Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 89,174 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,479 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $5,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $58.59 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $46.80 and a 52 week high of $64.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.09.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.