National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 213,382 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,374 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $12,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $274,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 4,226 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth $864,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 11.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 37,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 3,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 8,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 5.4 %

LNT opened at $61.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, 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 quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.81. Alliant Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $47.23 and a twelve month high of $66.54.

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

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LNT. UBS Group upped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.55.

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.