Bessemer Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,633 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,841 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $6,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LNT. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 722 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LNT. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $60.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

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.