Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $2.36 Million Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,735 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $2,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LNT. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Alliant Energy by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Alliant Energy by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 54,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,325,000 after acquiring an additional 4,405 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Alliant Energy by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Alliant Energy by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,260,000 after acquiring an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Alliant Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,518,000 after acquiring an additional 14,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.05 on Friday. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. 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 50-day moving average is $61.32 and its 200 day moving average is $60.52. The firm has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced 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. 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 analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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 reiterated 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 upped their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.