Columbia River Financial Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Columbia River Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,663,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,931,732,000 after purchasing an additional 226,275 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,768,159 shares of the company's stock worth $636,829,000 after buying an additional 76,987 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,724,000 after purchasing an additional 499,802 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,767 shares of the company's stock worth $395,017,000 after acquiring an additional 102,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company's stock worth $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on LNT. Barclays downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price target on Alliant Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of LNT stock traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.36. 1,372,701 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,688,716. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $49.05 and a 12-month high of $66.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company's 50-day moving average price is $61.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.09.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is 70.00%.

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.