Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,893 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,935 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $2,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth $257,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 190,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,288,000 after purchasing an additional 73,101 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 2,024.4% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 4,312 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.1%

LNT opened at $63.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.93. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $49.05 and a 52 week high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. Alliant Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LNT. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.95.

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.