Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 484,405 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,496 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.19% of Alliant Energy worth $28,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $61.27. The company had a trading volume of 131,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,683,727. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.09. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $49.05 and a 1 year high of $66.54.

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

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is 70.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNT. UBS Group upped 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price target on Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays cut Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.95.

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.