International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys New Stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 45,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,340,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 79,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,061,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 5,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lisa M. Barton purchased 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $48.56 per share, for a total transaction of $53,416.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,720.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LNT. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.71.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT stock opened at $50.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.07 and a 200-day moving average of $49.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $45.15 and a one year high of $56.26.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.53% and a return on equity of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.82%.

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.