Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT)

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock.

LNT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Alliant Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $60.17.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ LNT opened at $59.72 on Thursday. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $45.15 and a 12 month high of $60.67. The company has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.65. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.03 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. Alliant Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position 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 worth $533,205,000 after acquiring an additional 984,963 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,651,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,325,000 after purchasing an additional 213,522 shares during the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 3,173,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,800,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in 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 buying an additional 55,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,756,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,408,000 after buying an additional 29,358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.