UBS Group Increases Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target to $65.00

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price objective upped by UBS Group from $64.00 to $65.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

LNT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $60.17.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:LNT opened at $60.35 on Friday. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $45.15 and a 12 month high of $60.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 6,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 899,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,152,000 after purchasing an additional 9,578 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 103,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,309,000 after purchasing an additional 20,371 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 797,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,915,000 after purchasing an additional 153,963 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 596,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,595,000 after purchasing an additional 71,140 shares during the period. 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.