Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 4,299 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200,617 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,299 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Alliant Energy worth $11,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth about $4,742,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,518,000 after purchasing an additional 14,225 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 53,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,253,000 after buying an additional 9,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Alliant Energy by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 78,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,749,000 after buying an additional 14,827 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $63.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.47. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. 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. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.25.

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.