Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Stock Position Increased by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,002,764 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $59,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNT shares. Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT stock opened at $63.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.63. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.54. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, 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 quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its 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. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.5075 dividend. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.46%.

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.