Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 513 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,185 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $189,000 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 the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 425 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth $31,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 251.2% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Scotiabank cut 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $63.44 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.12. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $976.00 million for 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 expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Alliant Energy 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.