UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Stock

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price objective upped by UBS Group from $65.00 to $68.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LNT. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT opened at $63.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. Alliant Energy has a 12-month low of $47.23 and a 12-month high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,363,000 after purchasing an additional 771,919 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,225,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,201,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,260,000 after buying an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is 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.