Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $64.24 and last traded at $64.28, with a volume of 761245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.72 and a 200 day moving average of $59.85. The firm has a market cap of $16.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.5075 dividend. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 75.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LNT. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,400,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 71.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 39.2% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 5,284 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.8% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Alliant Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 49,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. 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.