Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 1,400 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LNT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,640,000 after buying an additional 4,141,895 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 6,869.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,688,000 after buying an additional 1,098,043 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $31,201,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,724,000 after buying an additional 499,802 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $24,396,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ LNT opened at $61.08 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.01. 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 1-year low of $49.40 and a 1-year high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on Alliant Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alliant Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays cut Alliant Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.95.

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.