Madison Investment Advisors LLC Takes $380,000 Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LNT shares. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.55.

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Alliant Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:LNT traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $62.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,144,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,513,921. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. Alliant Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $47.23 and a twelve month high of $66.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.60.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

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