Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Receives $63.39 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.39.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LNT shares. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT traded up $1.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,022,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,237. The company has a market capitalization of $15.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $46.80 and a fifty-two week high of $64.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $59.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.09.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is a boost from Alliant Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth about $30,000. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 517.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.