Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,736 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $6,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $46.80 and a 12 month high of $64.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.85.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LNT. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.25.

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.