Ames National Corp Invests $340,000 in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Ames National Corp bought a new position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,742 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $257,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $396,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LNT shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Alliant Energy stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $61.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,161,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,690,145. The company has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.60 and a 200 day moving average of $61.05. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $49.05 and a 12 month high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. Alliant Energy's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. Analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.00%.

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.