Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Acquired by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,020 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,691,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,847,000 after buying an additional 65,110 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,880,000 after acquiring an additional 92,525 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 worth $395,260,000 after acquiring an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,237,000 after purchasing an additional 36,438 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,815,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,385,000 after purchasing an additional 9,281 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $62.95 on Monday. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.37.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.