Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Stock Position Decreased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,292 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,342 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $2,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,579,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,205,000 after purchasing an additional 984,963 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,194,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $471,679,000 after purchasing an additional 505,101 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,802,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,948,485 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,651,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,325,000 after acquiring an additional 213,522 shares during the period. Finally, Mairs & Power Inc. grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 3,173,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,800,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LNT. Barclays boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alliant Energy from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.69.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,694,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,716,711. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.56. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $45.15 and a one year high of $58.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65.

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

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 69.82%.

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.