Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 869,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,828 shares during the period. Alliant Energy accounts for 1.5% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned about 0.34% of Alliant Energy worth $51,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Alliant Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:LNT opened at $63.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.88. The stock 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $46.80 and a one year high of $64.35.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 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 business had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.5075 dividend. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.46%.

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.