National Pension Service Invests $22.53 Million in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

National Pension Service acquired 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 380,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,531,000. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of Alliant Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 15,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $901,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 763,326 shares of the company's stock worth $45,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,035 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,538 shares of the company's stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $6,278,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,091,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,774,758. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $60.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.12. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $47.23 and a 12 month high of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Alliant Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNT has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Company 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.