Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 1,281,995 Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,281,995 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,496,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.50% of Alliant Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 6,869.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114,027 shares of the company's stock worth $71,688,000 after buying an additional 1,098,043 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $31,201,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,724,000 after buying an additional 499,802 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,396,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Alliant Energy stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.12. 559,608 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,708,661. Alliant Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.49 and a 52-week high of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company's 50-day moving average is $61.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio 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.