Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 573 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 604.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 62,431 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 103,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,309,000 after purchasing an additional 20,371 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Alliant Energy by 200.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 215,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,877,000 after buying an additional 144,077 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 134.9% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 32,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after buying an additional 18,822 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 36.3% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,558,000 after buying an additional 18,800 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $59.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.62. Alliant Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $45.15 and a twelve month high of $60.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $894.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LNT shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.17.

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.