International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 35,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,400,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,096 shares of the company's stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 6,083 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 79.5% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 108,647 shares of the company's stock worth $5,476,000 after purchasing an additional 48,124 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,717 shares of the company's stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,246 shares of the company's stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNT shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "hold" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Alliant Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $62.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.28.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Alliant Energy stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.28. 1,825,072 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,582,292. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.90. The firm has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.80 and a fifty-two week high of $62.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.