Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target to $56.00

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $56.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

LNT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their price target on Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $51.38.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $51.21 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Alliant Energy has a 12-month low of $45.15 and a 12-month high of $56.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.59.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 17.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.82%.

Insider Transactions at Alliant Energy

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 56.7% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 11,109 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.0% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 511,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,770,000 after acquiring an additional 38,068 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 20.3% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.5% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.