Atria Investments Inc Decreases Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Atria Investments Inc cut its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,332 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,597 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LNT. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 47.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 105,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 10.4% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 24.7% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,839,000 after purchasing an additional 101,387 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LNT stock opened at $62.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.19. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $47.23 and a 12-month high of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 75.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LNT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Company 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.