Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.51

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 17th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of 0.5075 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Alliant Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Alliant Energy has a payout ratio of 55.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Alliant Energy to earn $3.24 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 59.3%.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $60.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.62. Alliant Energy has a 52-week low of $46.80 and a 52-week high of $64.19. The company has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.39.

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.