Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 12th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st.

Alliant Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Alliant Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 58.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Alliant Energy to earn $3.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.7%.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT opened at $56.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.56. Alliant Energy has a 52-week low of $45.15 and a 52-week high of $56.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.07.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LNT. Bank of America reduced their target price on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price target on Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.63.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

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.