Park Avenue Securities LLC Makes New $257,000 Investment in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 2,007.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 146,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,668,000 after buying an additional 139,616 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 71,547 shares of the company's stock worth $4,231,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 3,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.77. 1,345,034 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,106,982. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $60.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.96. 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 52 week low of $46.80 and a 52 week high of $64.19.

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. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.5075 dividend. This is a boost from Alliant Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is 78.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LNT shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.39.

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.