Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Alliant Energy a consensus rating of Moderate Buy (9 buys, 3 holds) with an average 12‑month price target of $76.44, and recent firm targets range roughly from $74 to $79.
• Alliant recently beat quarterly estimates with EPS $0.60 vs. $0.58 and reported revenue of $1.06 billion (up 9% year‑over‑year); analysts forecast about 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.535 (annualized $2.14, ~3.0% yield) with a payout ratio around 68%, institutional investors own roughly 79.9% of shares, and market cap is about $18.7 billion.

Shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.4444.

A number of research firms have commented on LNT. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Friday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $74.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 622,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,984,000 after buying an additional 24,482 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 984,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,389,000 after buying an additional 470,967 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,015,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,314,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 108.9% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 47,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,175,000 after buying an additional 24,549 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT stock opened at $72.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $58.97 and a one year high of $74.40. The stock has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.55.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.535 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.94%.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation NASDAQ: LNT is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Alliant Energy's core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories.

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