Swiss National Bank Sells 34,400 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 724,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Alliant Energy worth $42,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,691,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,847,000 after purchasing an additional 65,110 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,880,000 after purchasing an additional 92,525 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,512,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,260,000 after purchasing an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,237,000 after purchasing an additional 36,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,815,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,385,000 after purchasing an additional 9,281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $62.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.37. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.54.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LNT. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Company 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.