Small- and mid-cap stocks (SMID), despite bursts of outperformance, have underperformed large-caps year to date - as they have over the past five years. But they may be in a better position to generate market-beating returns going forward. SMID companies tend to focus on domestic markets, so their businesses could be less disrupted by the fallout from unrest in the Middle East, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, issues in China, or other geopolitical developments. As well, the prices of SMID stocks generally are lower than the prices of large-caps. SMID stocks can be risky, but despite those risks, diversified investors look to have exposure to small- and mid-caps based on the long-term performance record. We estimate that 20% of the U.S. stock market's capitalization is comprised of SMID stocks.

Alliant Energy is the parent company of two public utilities, Interstate Power & Light Co. and Wisconsin Power & Light Co., and also owns Alliant Energy Resources, the parent company of Alliant's nonregulated operations. The core utility service territories are in Iowa and Wisconsin. The company employs about 3,300 people. The shares are a component of the S&P 500.

Vickers Stock Research, a subsidiary of Argus Research Group, analyzes insider trading and institutional stock ownership. Form 13Fs, which institutions must file to report their holdings, are due 45 days after the end of calendar quarters and have come in for 2Q24. We review 13Fs of major institutional investors, including activists, to see what they are buying and to look for trends. Activist investing is now less about generating a short-term return and more about achieving long-term returns through an active management/investor partnership. The stock-market volatility during 2Q gave those institutional investors a chance to buy a dip. Taking a look at the 13Fs from well-known institutional portfolios, we see that the big guns were busy, either adding new holdings or increasing existing holdings. Buying was across a variety of sectors. Based on Vickers data, the following are select purchases made in 2Q by some high-profile money managers: Chubb (CB) and Ulta Beauty (ULTA) bought by Berkshire Hathaway; Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) bought by Citadel; Accenture (ACN), Adobe (ADBE), and Broadcom bought by D.E. Shaw; Shopify (SHOP) and GE Aerospace (GE) bought by Artisan Partners; PayPal (PYPL), Shopify (SHOP), and Tesla (TSLA) bought by Ark Investment Management; and Salesforce (CRM) and Disney (DIS) bought by ValueAct Holdings. We also note one significant sale: Apple Inc. (AAPL) by Berkshire. Turning to sectors, we note that over the past week, insider buying outpaced selling in the Energy sector by a factor of 11.3-times. On the flipside, selling by insiders last week was greatest in Financials, with shares valued at $474 million sold versus less than $2 million bought. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).

Alliant Energy is the parent of two regulated utilities, Interstate Power and Light and Wisconsin Power and Light, serving nearly 1 million electric customers and 425,000 natural gas-only customers. Both subsidiaries engage in the generation and distribution of electricity and the distribution and transportation of natural gas. Alliant also owns a 16% interest in American Transmission Co.