Forsta AP Fonden Boosts Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,600 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $4,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 10.3% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,579,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,205,000 after purchasing an additional 984,963 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,756,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,408,000 after purchasing an additional 29,358 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 9.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,293,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,865,000 after purchasing an additional 116,399 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 6.0% in the second quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 964,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,085,000 after buying an additional 54,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the second quarter worth about $42,367,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $59.70 on Wednesday. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $62.49. The stock has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The company had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Alliant Energy’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNT has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.28.

Alliant Energy 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.