Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.55.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Alliant Energy stock traded up $0.84 on Friday, reaching $61.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,229,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,653,883. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The business's fifty day moving average price is $61.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.84. Alliant Energy has a twelve month low of $49.05 and a twelve month high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company's stock worth $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,496,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 6,869.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,043 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $32,225,000. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $34,210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Utility Other. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), primarily generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Iowa; sells electricity to wholesale customers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; and generates and distributes steam in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.