M&T Bank Corp Acquires 2,608 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 59,091 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,608 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $3,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LNT. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 105,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,839,000 after purchasing an additional 101,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $62.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $47.23 and a 1 year high of $66.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.19.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LNT shares. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.