Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Makes New Investment in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,579,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,205,000 after buying an additional 984,963 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,756,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,408,000 after buying an additional 29,358 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,293,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,865,000 after buying an additional 116,399 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 964,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,085,000 after buying an additional 54,510 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,367,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on LNT. Scotiabank raised their price target on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.28.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $60.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.62. The company has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.80 and a fifty-two week high of $62.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced 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%. Alliant Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.82%.

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.