Millennium Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 67,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 722 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 382.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 912 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LNT. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price objective on Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT stock traded down $0.50 on Monday, hitting $61.73. 804,133 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,687,935. The firm has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $49.25 and a 52 week high of $66.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.00%.

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.