UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Raises Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,366 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,133 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $2,151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $274,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 44,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $228,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 4,226 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.58 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.68. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

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.