PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,786 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,405 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $3,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 200.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 215,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,877,000 after acquiring an additional 144,077 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 168.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 51,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 32,166 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $1,248,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 14.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 196,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,915,000 after purchasing an additional 25,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 9.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,839,000 after purchasing an additional 101,387 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note 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 note on Thursday, August 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.06.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:LNT opened at $63.32 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $16.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.58. 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 simple moving average is $60.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.14. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $46.80 and a 12-month high of $63.63.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Alliant Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.