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

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 9.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,183,765 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 101,387 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Alliant Energy worth $71,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 12.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 251,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,806,000 after buying an additional 27,619 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 56,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,879,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 18.2% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 6,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 15.5% during the second quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 63,370 shares of the company's stock worth $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 8,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.4% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 70,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,576,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNT shares. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Alliant Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "hold" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

LNT traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.95. The company had a trading volume of 2,567,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,617,322. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $46.80 and a 12-month high of $64.19. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $60.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.51.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

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.