Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 448,480 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 83,482 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.17% of Alliant Energy worth $26,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $32,225,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,201,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 499,802 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 698.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,400,000 after acquiring an additional 394,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,531,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of 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 note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 458,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,600,470. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.22 and a 200-day moving average of $60.88. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $49.05 and a 52-week high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is 75.46%.

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.