Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 2,007.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 146,572 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 139,616 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.06% of Alliant Energy worth $8,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 196,318 shares of the company's stock worth $11,915,000 after acquiring an additional 25,161 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth $4,742,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company's stock worth $71,839,000 after purchasing an additional 101,387 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company's stock worth $134,518,000 after purchasing an additional 14,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 23.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 78,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,749,000 after purchasing an additional 14,827 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $60.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,697,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,118,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $46.80 and a one year high of $64.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.72. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.60.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Alliant Energy's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.5075 dividend. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on LNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.39.

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.