Morton Community Bank Buys 1,010 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Morton Community Bank grew its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,223 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $3,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 11,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,815,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,385,000 after acquiring an additional 9,281 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 55,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 214,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,505,000 after purchasing an additional 29,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 167,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LNT. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT stock opened at $62.49 on Monday. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $47.23 and a 1 year high of $66.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.20.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.46%.

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.