Jennison Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Alliant Energy Corporation $LNT

Key Points

• Jennison Associates raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 92.5% in Q4 to 1,805,214 shares (about 0.70% of the company), valuing the holding at roughly $117.36 million while institutional investors now own about 79.9% of LNT.
• Equity analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" on Alliant Energy with an average price target of $76.44 (nine Buy ratings vs. three Hold ratings).
• Alliant announced a quarterly dividend of $0.535 (annualized $2.14, ~2.9% yield) and recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.60 vs. $0.58) with revenue up 9% year-over-year.

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 92.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,805,214 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 867,256 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.70% of Alliant Energy worth $117,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 984,790 shares of the company's stock worth $66,389,000 after acquiring an additional 470,967 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth about $4,015,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth about $1,314,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 108.9% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 47,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,175,000 after buying an additional 24,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,979,718 shares of the company's stock worth $133,453,000 after buying an additional 55,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on LNT shares. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. HSBC raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Barclays set a $74.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $76.44.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $72.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 89,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,393,081. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company's 50 day moving average is $71.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.65. The stock has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.61. Alliant Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $58.97 and a fifty-two week high of $74.40.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.11 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. Alliant Energy's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.94%.

About Alliant Energy

Alliant Energy Corporation NASDAQ: LNT is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Alliant Energy's core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories.

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