Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Declares $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 15th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%.

Alliant Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Alliant Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 58.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Alliant Energy to earn $3.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.9%.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $47.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $56.26. The stock has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.45.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $961.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 10.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lisa M. Barton purchased 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $48.56 per share, for a total transaction of $53,416.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,720.64. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,030,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,938,766,000 after purchasing an additional 342,340 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,504,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,255,114,000 after buying an additional 799,601 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,692,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,148 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 7,086,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,677,000 after acquiring an additional 117,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,599,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,383,000 after purchasing an additional 95,527 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.31.

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.