Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes $500,000 Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays downgraded Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price target on Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ LNT traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,648,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,980. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.09. The firm has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $49.05 and a 52 week high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. Alliant Energy's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.00%.

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.