Nuveen Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 62.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,073,032 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,676,018 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $477,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,663,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,931,732,000 after buying an additional 226,275 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,768,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $636,829,000 after purchasing an additional 76,987 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,724,000 after purchasing an additional 499,802 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,017,000 after purchasing an additional 102,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9,113.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,187,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141,895 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

LNT stock opened at $60.47 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.70 and a 200-day moving average of $60.84. 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 12 month low of $49.05 and a 12 month high of $66.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.58.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Alliant Energy’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LNT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Alliant Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.55.

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.