Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Sells 18,710 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 12.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 130,763 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,710 shares during the quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $6,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 604.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after acquiring an additional 62,431 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 200.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 215,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,877,000 after purchasing an additional 144,077 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 134.9% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 32,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after buying an additional 18,822 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 36.3% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,558,000 after buying an additional 18,800 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,199,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.17.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $60.74 on Friday. Alliant Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $60.86. The stock has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 15.77%. The firm had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $897.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Alliant Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.82%.

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.