Ames National Corp Takes Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Ames National Corp purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $213,000. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 190,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,288,000 after purchasing an additional 73,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 2,024.4% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 4,312 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.1%

LNT opened at $63.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $49.05 and a 12 month high of $66.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.93.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.5075 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is 70.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays cut shares of Alliant Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised Alliant Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Alliant Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.95.

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.