Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 80.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,141 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LNT. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.5% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 8.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 54,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,325,000 after acquiring an additional 4,405 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 17.7% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,518,000 after acquiring an additional 14,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 9.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of LNT stock opened at $63.05 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $47.23 and a 12 month high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. On average, research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNT has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy 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.