Steele Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Steele Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,075 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 485 shares during the quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,194,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $471,679,000 after purchasing an additional 505,101 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,802,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,485 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,651,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,325,000 after purchasing an additional 213,522 shares during the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 3,173,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,800,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,491,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,795,000 after purchasing an additional 55,131 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LNT traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,301,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,296. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.78. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $45.15 and a 12-month high of $56.26. The firm has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.56.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Alliant Energy’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LNT. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on 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 reduced their price objective on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price objective on Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.38.

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.