Acadian Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 453.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,590 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,858 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 604.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 62,431 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 103,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,309,000 after buying an additional 20,371 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 200.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 215,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,877,000 after buying an additional 144,077 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 32,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 18,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 36.3% during the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,558,000 after acquiring an additional 18,800 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $60.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.49. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $45.15 and a 12-month high of $60.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The company had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Alliant Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LNT. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Alliant Energy 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.