Stock trading: Alliant reports strong results

Alliant Energy Corp., symbol LNT on New York, sells electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. Alliant is one of the stock trading picks we analyze in Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter for investing in the U.S. markets. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Alliant’s earnings rose 45.5%, to $73.5 million, or $0.68 a share. It earned $50.5 million, or $0.45 a share, a year earlier. These figures exclude one-time items, such as a writedown of a proposed wind farm development. Favourable rulings by government regulators on pricing, recovery of fuel expenses and tax credits were the main reason behind the higher earnings. Revenue in the quarter rose 6.2%, to $945.0 million from $890.2 million, as cooler-than-usual weather spurred greater demand for electricity and gas. Alliant is a dividend paying stock. Its annual rate of $1.70 yields 4.3%. If you’re interested in stock trading in U.S. companies like Alliant, you should have a subscription to Wall Street Stock Forecaster. Best of all, when you take a FREE 1-month trial you can get the latest issue—along with 5 in-depth Special Reports—with no cost and no obligation. Click here to learn how.

Jim is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for The Successful Investor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Jim has held the Chartered Financial Analyst designation since 1992 and spent more than a decade at the Financial Post DataGroup before joining TSI Network. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.