Longboard Asset Management LP Takes Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LNT. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,363,000 after buying an additional 771,919 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,225,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,260,000 after buying an additional 512,429 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 698.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,400,000 after buying an additional 394,920 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,705,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LNT shares. Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $59.24 on Wednesday. Alliant Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $46.80 and a twelve month high of $64.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.22. The company has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio 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.