Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target Raised to $53.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

LNT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $53.31.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $48.00 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $45.15 and a one year high of $56.26. The company has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.55.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.85% and a net margin of 17.46%. The company had revenue of $961.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Lisa M. Barton acquired 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $48.56 per share, for a total transaction of $53,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,720.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,802,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,948,485 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,692,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,148 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,504,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,255,114,000 after acquiring an additional 799,601 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 289.7% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 976,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,302,000 after acquiring an additional 725,800 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 3,199.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 728,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,283,000 after buying an additional 706,162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

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.