APG Asset Management N.V. Invests $7.98 Million in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 139,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,979,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 722 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $60.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $62.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.80. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

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.