Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 869,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,828 shares during the period. Alliant Energy makes up approximately 1.5% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $51,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Alliant Energy by 71.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 39.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 5,284 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 49,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 52,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,145,000 after acquiring an additional 11,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 203,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LNT. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $63.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.88. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $46.80 and a 52 week high of $64.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. Equities analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.46%.

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.