7,819 Shares in Alliant Energy Corporation $LNT Bought by Nikulski Financial Inc.

Nikulski Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 7,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alliant Energy by 103.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 66,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,292,000 after buying an additional 33,978 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 98.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,084,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,792,000 after acquiring an additional 538,603 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 21,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 6,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $71.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Alliant Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $57.09 and a 12-month high of $73.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.78 and its 200-day moving average is $67.71.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.11 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $0.535 dividend. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 67.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. HSBC raised shares of Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.44.

About Alliant Energy

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: LNT) is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Alliant Energy’s core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories.