Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target Raised to $66.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on LNT. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.28.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $62.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.24. Alliant Energy has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $62.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.58.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position 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 last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,367,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 14,057.8% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 577,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,084,000 after purchasing an additional 572,996 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,804,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 919,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,147,000 after purchasing an additional 304,022 shares in 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.