Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 965 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $809,000 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. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,225,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 698.3% during the third 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 period. National Pension Service bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $22,531,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,677,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $63.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $47.23 and a 1-year high of $66.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.5075 dividend. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.55.

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.