Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,376 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,575 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LNT. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 289.7% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 976,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,302,000 after buying an additional 725,800 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 3,199.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 728,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,283,000 after purchasing an additional 706,162 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,194,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,679,000 after purchasing an additional 505,101 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Alliant Energy by 224.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 468,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,052,000 after purchasing an additional 324,252 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Alliant Energy by 1,001.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 239,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,626,000 after purchasing an additional 218,158 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LNT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.38.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT opened at $52.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.74. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $45.15 and a 52-week high of $56.26.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.53% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.82%.

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.