Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 72,748 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,076,660 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,748 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $241,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 23.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 78,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,749,000 after buying an additional 14,827 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 22.3% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 53,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after acquiring an additional 9,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $274,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.12 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.67 and its 200 day moving average is $60.63. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.46%.

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.