Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,100,000 shares, a decline of 17.6% from the October 31st total of 7,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alliant Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNT. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

LNT stock opened at $63.20 on Monday. Alliant Energy has a 12 month low of $46.80 and a 12 month high of $64.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.56.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alliant Energy will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Alliant Energy Company 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.