Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Lowers Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,174 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,479 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $5,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Alliant Energy by 2,141.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,182,000 after acquiring an additional 172,353 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 65,617 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $253,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the second quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,144,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $59.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,025,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,419,816. The firm has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business's 50 day moving average price is $59.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.09. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $64.19.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. Alliant Energy's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.68%.

About Alliant Energy

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.