Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lowered its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,388 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,050 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $7,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LNT. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,691,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,847,000 after purchasing an additional 65,110 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alliant Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,880,000 after buying an additional 92,525 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 8.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 512,429 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,518,000 after acquiring an additional 14,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the third 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. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ LNT opened at $64.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $47.23 and a twelve month high of $66.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.17 and a 200 day moving average of $60.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.5075 dividend. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LNT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank downgraded 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.25.

Alliant Energy 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.