Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Sells 25,555 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lessened its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 46.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,555 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,691,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,847,000 after buying an additional 65,110 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,880,000 after buying an additional 92,525 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 worth $395,260,000 after acquiring an additional 512,429 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,518,000 after buying an additional 14,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,363,000 after acquiring an additional 771,919 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT stock opened at $60.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.06. Alliant Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.80 and a fifty-two week high of $64.19.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.5075 dividend. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.