Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Bought by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,684 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 941 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LNT. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,363,000 after buying an additional 771,919 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,225,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in 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 valued at $395,260,000 after purchasing an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Alliant Energy by 698.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,400,000 after purchasing an additional 394,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $62.81 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. 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 $46.80 and a one year high of $64.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.71.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNT has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.39.

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.