Alliant Energy Corporation Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.51 (NASDAQ:LNT)

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.5075 per share on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%.

Alliant Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 59.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Alliant Energy to earn $3.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.03 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.8%.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.10. 399,449 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,726,529. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.17. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $54.56 and a 12 month high of $66.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.56.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Alliant Energy's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research raised Alliant Energy from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $68.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays cut Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price target on Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.23.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 98.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,084,562 shares of the company's stock worth $69,792,000 after buying an additional 538,603 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 103.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,701 shares of the company's stock worth $4,292,000 after buying an additional 33,978 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 21,679 shares of the company's stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 6,269 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company's stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,256 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

About Alliant Energy

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.

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