Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Stake Boosted by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,872,409 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,640 shares during the quarter. Alliant Energy comprises about 1.2% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.73% of Alliant Energy worth $120,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,663,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,931,732,000 after acquiring an additional 226,275 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,768,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $636,829,000 after acquiring an additional 76,987 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Alliant Energy by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company's stock worth $414,724,000 after purchasing an additional 499,802 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alliant Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,767 shares of the company's stock worth $395,017,000 after purchasing an additional 102,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company's stock worth $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ LNT traded up $0.53 on Friday, reaching $60.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,577,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,564. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.57. Alliant Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.01 and a 1 year high of $66.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.16 and a 200-day moving average of $60.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 18.26%. Alliant Energy's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.00%.

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.