Brokerages Set Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Target Price at $74.50

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.50.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, December 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $71.04 on Friday. 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 P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.11 million. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 18.57%.Alliant Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.535 per share. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.94%.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Country Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 84.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 256.7% during 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 last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.