Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Short Interest Update

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,430,000 shares, a decline of 13.4% from the February 28th total of 8,580,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

LNT stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.63. 224,945 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,560,769. Alliant Energy has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.75.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LNT. UBS Group raised their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.55.

Institutional Trading of Alliant Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Alliant Energy by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 64,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 15,232 shares during the period. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Columbia River Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

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.