Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Short Interest Down 17.6% in November

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 volume of 1,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNT. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,367,000. Eagle Ridge Investment Management acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,804,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 8.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,260,000 after acquiring an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,705,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2,141.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,182,000 after purchasing an additional 172,353 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT opened at $63.20 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.56. Alliant Energy has a 12-month low of $46.80 and a 12-month high of $64.19.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend 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%.

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.