Columbia River Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Columbia River Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 722 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 382.5% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 912 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays lowered Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.95.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of LNT traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $61.63. 237,781 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,032,965. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $66.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.09. The firm has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Alliant Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.