Kimelman & Baird LLC Purchases New Stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,579,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,205,000 after acquiring an additional 984,963 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,651,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,325,000 after purchasing an additional 213,522 shares in the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 3,173,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,800,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,491,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,795,000 after buying an additional 55,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,756,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,408,000 after buying an additional 29,358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LNT. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Alliant Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $60.69 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.15. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $45.15 and a 52 week high of $61.04. The company has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

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 company had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.