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

Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,210,000 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the October 15th total of 4,760,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock traded down $0.31 on Friday, reaching $49.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,048,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,518,660. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Alliant Energy has a 1 year low of $45.15 and a 1 year high of $57.52. The company has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.59.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st were issued a $0.4525 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 30th. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 66.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,030,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,938,766,000 after buying an additional 342,340 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,504,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,255,114,000 after acquiring an additional 799,601 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Alliant Energy by 8.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,692,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,148 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Alliant Energy by 3.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,689,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,003,000 after purchasing an additional 278,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 3.1% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,650,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,031,000 after purchasing an additional 199,235 shares during the last quarter. 77.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LNT. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Scotiabank upgraded Alliant Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Alliant Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $49.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.17.

About Alliant Energy

Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services. It operates through 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.