BMO Capital Markets Boosts Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target to $66.00

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price target lifted by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $60.00 to $66.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.83% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $63.57. 633,099 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,600,760. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.71. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $46.80 and a 12 month high of $64.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNT. Columbia River Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $456,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,206,000. GTS Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Ames National Corp acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $340,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 6,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.