ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 4,935 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,893 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,935 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $2,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 42,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,507,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 3,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LNT. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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 boosted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.72. 1,161,411 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,687,095. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $49.05 and a 1-year high of $66.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.96. The firm has a market cap of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Alliant Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued 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 yield of 3.29%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.00%.

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.