California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 17,949 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,582,923 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,949 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $81,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $2,977,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after buying an additional 2,947 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth $2,656,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 239.1% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 17,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 9,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lisa M. Barton acquired 1,100 shares of Alliant Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.56 per share, with a total value of $53,416.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,720.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LNT. Bank of America dropped their price target on Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.36.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ LNT opened at $50.37 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.84 and its 200 day moving average is $49.53. Alliant Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.15 and a fifty-two week high of $56.26.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 10.85%. The business had revenue of $961.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.06%.

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.