T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Buys 4,141,895 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 9,113.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,187,345 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.63% of Alliant Energy worth $247,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 67.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 722 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of LNT stock traded up $0.58 on Tuesday, hitting $61.48. The stock had a trading volume of 334,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,602,925. Alliant Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $49.05 and a twelve month high of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.87.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is presently 75.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on LNT. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays cut shares of Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.55.

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.