Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 7,687 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,320 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,687 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Alliant Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ LNT opened at $62.10 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.23 and a fifty-two week high of $66.54. The stock has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.60.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNT shares. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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 research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.55.

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.