Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New Investment in Alliant Energy Corporation $LNT

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 14,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $928,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,401,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,251,607,000 after acquiring an additional 97,980 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,368,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,238,000 after acquiring an additional 149,679 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,291,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,575,000 after acquiring an additional 21,036 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,979,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,453,000 after purchasing an additional 55,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,779,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,928,000 after purchasing an additional 626,410 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $68.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.40. The stock has a market cap of $17.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Alliant Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $57.09 and a 1-year high of $73.41.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $0.535 dividend. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LNT. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Finally, HSBC raised Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.44.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: LNT) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Alliant Energy’s core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories.