Natixis Takes $880,000 Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Natixis acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 17,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 604.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 62,431 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,656,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 224.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 468,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,052,000 after purchasing an additional 324,252 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 239.1% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 17,810 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 103,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,309,000 after acquiring an additional 20,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT remained flat at $55.84 during midday trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 121,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,449. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $45.15 and a one year high of $56.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.56.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Alliant Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on LNT. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price objective on Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.63.

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.