Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Increases Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,056,042 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168,995 shares during the period. Alliant Energy makes up 1.5% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.80% of Alliant Energy worth $121,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,363,000 after purchasing an additional 771,919 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,225,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 698.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,400,000 after purchasing an additional 394,920 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,531,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $20,677,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LNT opened at $63.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.63. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $47.23 and a 1 year high of $66.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.46%.

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.