Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Takes $213,000 Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 3,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 517.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. Barclays cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $62.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.65. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $46.80 and a 12-month high of $64.19.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.