Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $26,000 Investment in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LNT. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,977,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after buying an additional 2,947 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 239.1% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 17,810 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 41,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,004,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of 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 given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alliant Energy news, CEO Lisa M. Barton bought 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $48.56 per share, with a total value of $53,416.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,720.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ LNT opened at $49.89 on Tuesday. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $45.15 and a 12 month high of $56.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.74 and a 200-day moving average of $49.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.06%.

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.