Wall Street Zen Downgrades Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) from a "sell" to a strong sell in a note to investors.
• Despite that downgrade, the analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy — nine analysts rate the stock Buy and three rate it Hold, with an average price target of $76.44.
• Shares trade around $72.31 (market cap ~$18.7B) after the company beat quarterly EPS expectations ($0.60 vs. $0.58) and reported revenue up 9% year-over-year, while carrying a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LNT. HSBC upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $74.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.44.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of LNT stock opened at $72.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.61. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $58.97 and a one year high of $74.40. The company's fifty day moving average price is $71.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.55. 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 (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.11 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The company's revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LNT. Glenmede Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% in the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 22,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 9,117 shares of the company's stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alliant Energy

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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