Barclays Increases Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target to $61.00

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $55.00 to $61.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Alliant Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $59.87. 36,471 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,590,736. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.86. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $46.80 and a 12 month high of $61.09. The stock has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LNT. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 10.3% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,579,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,205,000 after acquiring an additional 984,963 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth about $42,367,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 103.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,286,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,020,000 after acquiring an additional 654,460 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 14,057.8% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 577,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,084,000 after acquiring an additional 572,996 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Ridge Investment Management acquired a new position in Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth about $26,804,000. 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.