Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 16.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $57.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $62.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.28.

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.