M&T Bank Corp Raises Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,091 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,608 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $3,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 105,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,839,000 after purchasing an additional 101,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $62.49 on Friday. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.36 and its 200 day moving average is $60.19. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly 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 firm 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNT. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.25.

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.