Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $25.70 Million Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 509,872 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 86,366 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $25,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 252.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.63.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.11. 2,275,182 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,567,594. Alliant Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $58.69. The stock has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.29.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.82%.

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.