Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Purchases 48,641 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 402,805 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 48,641 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.16% of Alliant Energy worth $23,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LNT. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 517.0% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in Alliant Energy by 251.2% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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 boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $66.04 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.05. 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 firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.15.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued 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. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. 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.