Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,320 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,687 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LNT. RDA Financial Network boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 7,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank increased its position in Alliant Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. City State Bank now owns 71,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,231,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 59,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $62.10 on Wednesday. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.52 and a 200 day moving average of $60.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. 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 (DPR) is currently 75.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LNT. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.