Wells Fargo & Company Raises Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) Price Target to $66.00

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $66.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.85% from the company’s current price.

LNT has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.28.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Alliant Energy stock traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 188,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,555. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. Alliant Energy has a fifty-two week low of $46.80 and a fifty-two week high of $61.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.01.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alliant Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 604.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after buying an additional 62,431 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 200.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 215,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,877,000 after purchasing an additional 144,077 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,558,000 after purchasing an additional 18,800 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $2,199,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 105.5% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 33,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 17,030 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

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.