Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 67,684 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,000,341 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,684 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $305,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 6,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 899,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,152,000 after buying an additional 9,578 shares in the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $62.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Alliant Energy from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $60.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.68 and a 200-day moving average of $52.35. The company has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $45.15 and a one year high of $60.51.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $894.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $897.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Alliant Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.82%.

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.