Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,584 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,708 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the second quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LNT shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.28.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $61.98. 1,585,409 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,596,358. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $62.49. The company has a market cap of $15.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $58.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.06.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 15.77%. Alliant Energy's revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.