Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $1.86 Million Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 31,450 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at $30,000. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

LNT stock opened at $60.55 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.62. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.80 and a fifty-two week high of $64.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.60.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.39.

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.