Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 2,141.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,182,000 after purchasing an additional 172,353 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 65,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,144,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 52,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 3,396 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $58.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $46.80 and a 52-week high of $64.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $59.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.