Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Lowered to Underweight Rating by Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $61.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $59.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ LNT opened at $61.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy has a twelve month low of $49.05 and a twelve month high of $66.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.82.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 75.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,663,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,732,000 after purchasing an additional 226,275 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,768,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $636,829,000 after buying an additional 76,987 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,724,000 after buying an additional 499,802 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,017,000 after buying an additional 102,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,640,000 after acquiring an additional 4,141,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

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.