Independent Advisor Alliance Increases Stock Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,020 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring 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.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. RDA Financial Network grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 7,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 71,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,231,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $62.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 75.46%.

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.