Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 516,039 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,167 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Alliant Energy worth $26,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 143.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 222,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,304,000 after purchasing an additional 130,972 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.3% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 216,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 10.0% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 80,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,076,000 after purchasing an additional 7,303 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $269,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 44.2% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 6,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LNT shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Alliant Energy in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.17.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $59.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $45.15 and a 12 month high of $60.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $897.03 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.