Royal Bank Of Canada Begins Coverage on Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT)

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Alliant Energy with an Outperform rating and a $82 price target, implying roughly a 15.43% upside from the prior close.
• Consensus analyst view remains generally positive—nine Buys and two Holds—giving a collective rating of Moderate Buy and an average target of $75.33.
• Alliant beat quarterly EPS expectations ($0.60 vs. $0.58) and saw revenue rise 9% to $1.06 billion; the company has a market cap near $18.27 billion and a P/E of 22.55.

Stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Wednesday. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.43% from the company's previous close.

LNT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Alliant Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.33.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT stock opened at $71.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.06. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $57.09 and a 12 month high of $72.65. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Alliant Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 84.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 256.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 560 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

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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