Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to "Outperform" Rating

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wolfe Research from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $68.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research's price target suggests a potential upside of 10.25% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on LNT. Barclays cut Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.32.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 1.5%

LNT stock opened at $61.68 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Alliant Energy has a 1-year low of $51.23 and a 1-year high of $66.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.01.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $82,496,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 6,869.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,688,000 after buying an additional 1,098,043 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 98.7% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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