Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $1.70 Million Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,812 shares of the company’s stock after selling 744 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 722 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 382.5% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 912 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Alliant Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays downgraded Alliant Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $63.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.93. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $49.05 and a 1-year high of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. Alliant Energy’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.