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

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $64.00 to $65.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 8.84% from the stock’s previous close.

LNT has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.17.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $59.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.27 and a 200 day moving average of $52.65. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $45.15 and a 12 month high of $60.67.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 EPS 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 business had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LNT. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 10.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,579,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,205,000 after purchasing an additional 984,963 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,651,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,325,000 after acquiring an additional 213,522 shares during the period. Mairs & Power Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 3,173,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,800,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,491,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,795,000 after purchasing an additional 55,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,756,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,408,000 after purchasing an additional 29,358 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.