First Citizens Financial Corp Acquires 672 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

First Citizens Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Rating) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,727 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 672 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. James Investment Research Inc. bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vectors Research Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 477.4% in the second quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC now owns 485 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.89% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Alliant Energy stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,035,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,235. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.19 and a 52 week high of $65.37. The company has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $875.67 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 16.32% and a return on equity of 11.31%. Alliant Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a $0.4525 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 66.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy to $58.00 in a report on Monday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Alliant Energy from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $57.00 to $56.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Guggenheim raised shares of Alliant Energy from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $64.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.50.

About Alliant Energy

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Alliant Energy Corp. is a regulated investor-owned public utility holding company that engages in the provision of regulated electricity and natural gas service to natural gas customers in the Midwest through its two public utility subsidiaries. It operates through following segments: utility electric operations, utility gas operations, and utility other.