Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?
by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets DailyAlliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Free Report)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $72.25 and last traded at $72.2050, with a volume of 2682905 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.45.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
LNT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $73.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday. HSBC raised shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays raised Alliant Energy from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Sunday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Alliant Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.50.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Alliant Energy
Alliant Energy Price Performance
The stock has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.
Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 18.57%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Alliant Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.360-3.460 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.
Alliant Energy Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.94%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 799.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,393,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,662,000 after purchasing an additional 7,460,117 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 802.8% during the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,553,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,593 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $82,265,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 3,057,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,752,000 after buying an additional 1,278,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,614,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,004,000 after buying an additional 1,063,268 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.