NorthRock Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised 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 acquiring an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 382.5% in 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. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $63.16. 2,548,788 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,674,656. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $49.05 and a 52 week high of $66.54. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.92. The company has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Alliant Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.