Topic: Growth Stocks

ALLIANT ENERGY CORP. $31 – New York symbol LNT

ALLIANT ENERGY CORP. $31 (New York symbol LNT; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 110.6 million; Market cap: $3.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.0; Dividend yield: 4.8%; WSSF Rating: Average) sells electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.

In the three months ended September 30, 2009, Alliant lost $43.3 million, or $0.39 a share. However, if you exclude a one-time charge related to the early repayment of debt, it would have earned $0.77 a share. In the year-earlier quarter, Alliant earned $109.1 million, or $0.99 a share. Revenue fell 9.7%, to $885.7 million from $980.3 million. The lower earnings and revenue were mainly caused by cooler-than-usual summer weather, which prompted consumers to use less power for air conditioning.

Alliant wants to raise its rates by 17%. That would add $171 million to its annual revenue. Regulators recently let it increase rates by 8%. They will decide on the remainder in early 2010.

The stock trades at a reasonable 16.7 times Alliant’s likely 2009 earnings of $1.86 a share. The $1.50 dividend seems safe, and yields 4.8%.

Alliant Energy is a buy.

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