Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Acquires 1,105 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LNT. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during 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 during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of LNT stock opened at $66.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.05. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $47.23 and a 52-week high of $66.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a PEG 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.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. On average, analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given 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 was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.25.

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.