Ipsen Advisor Group LLC Takes $414,000 Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Ipsen Advisor Group 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 institutional investor purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the third 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,225,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 698.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,400,000 after acquiring an additional 394,920 shares during the period. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,531,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,677,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LNT shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $62.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $47.23 and a 52-week high of $66.54.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.