McIlrath & Eck LLC Buys 670 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 206.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 995 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,977,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.5% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after buying an additional 2,947 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,656,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 239.1% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 17,810 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $790,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LNT. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.71.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $50.50. 275,425 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,899,944. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.54. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $45.15 and a 52 week high of $56.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.55.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $961.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.85% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lisa M. Barton bought 1,100 shares of Alliant Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $48.56 per share, with a total value of $53,416.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,720.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.