Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Buys 326 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,778 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth $30,000. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth $31,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $62.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.68. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $46.80 and a one year high of $64.19.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. Research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 75.46%.

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.