Woodline Partners LP Buys New Shares in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $911,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $1,931,732,000 after purchasing an additional 226,275 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake 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 valued at $636,829,000 after purchasing an additional 76,987 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake 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 valued at $414,724,000 after purchasing an additional 499,802 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $395,017,000 after purchasing an additional 102,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.6%

LNT traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,276,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,691,383. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $61.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $49.25 and a 1-year high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is 70.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.