Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) Stock Position Lowered by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its position in Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 446,001 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,822 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $28,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LNT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,640,000 after acquiring an additional 4,141,895 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,496,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 6,869.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,114,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,688,000 after buying an additional 1,098,043 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,201,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,724,000 after buying an additional 499,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Alliant Energy stock opened at $60.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Alliant Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $50.01 and a 1-year high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. Alliant Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is presently 70.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LNT shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.95.

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.