Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened
by Amy Steele · The Cerbat GemShares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $73.83 and last traded at $74.12, with a volume of 27620 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.99.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LNT shares. Barclays raised shares of Alliant Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.44.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Alliant Energy
Alliant Energy Stock Up 1.7%
The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.61.
Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.
Alliant Energy Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.94%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LNT. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 103.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,292,000 after buying an additional 33,978 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 98.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,084,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after buying an additional 538,603 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 18.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 21,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 6,269 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 23.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Alliant Energy
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.