Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 101,387 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 9.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,183,765 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 101,387 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Alliant Energy worth $71,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 604.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,768 shares of the company's stock worth $3,668,000 after acquiring an additional 62,431 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 200.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 215,821 shares of the company's stock worth $10,877,000 after purchasing an additional 144,077 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 36.3% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 70,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,558,000 after buying an additional 18,800 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 105.5% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 33,166 shares of the company's stock worth $1,672,000 after buying an additional 17,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 44,537 shares of the company's stock worth $2,245,000 after buying an additional 9,977 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LNT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Alliant Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.06.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of LNT stock traded up $1.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $57.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,340,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,680,629. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.33. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $46.80 and a 12 month high of $62.49. The company has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.