Steele Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,590 Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Steele Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LNT. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 3.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,689,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,003,000 after purchasing an additional 278,406 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,325,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,685,000 after acquiring an additional 105,723 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 2.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,055,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,569,000 after acquiring an additional 41,291 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 1.1% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,600,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,562,000 after acquiring an additional 17,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 4.0% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,343,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,099,000 after purchasing an additional 52,184 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.71.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Alliant Energy stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.51. 229,416 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,894,682. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $45.15 and a 52-week high of $56.26. The stock has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.93 and its 200 day moving average is $49.55.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.85% and a net margin of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $961.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lisa M. Barton bought 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.56 per share, for a total transaction of $53,416.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,720.64. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alliant Energy 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.