Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,626 shares of the company’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in 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 valued at $97,363,000 after purchasing an additional 771,919 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $32,225,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 512,429 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 698.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,400,000 after acquiring an additional 394,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth $10,705,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $62.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $46.80 and a one year high of $64.19. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. Analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

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.