Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Makes New $479,000 Investment in Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

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

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.35. 2,405,886 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,704,060. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.57. The business's fifty day moving average is $61.11 and its 200-day moving average is $60.95. Alliant Energy Corporation has a one year low of $50.53 and a one year high of $66.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LNT. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price objective on Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Company 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.