Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02, Zacks reports. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $61.62. 3,246,987 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,561,981. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.59. Alliant Energy has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $64.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LNT. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.39.

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.