Vestcor Inc Sells 2,232 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Vestcor Inc reduced its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,232 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,363,000 after buying an additional 771,919 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,225,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 698.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,400,000 after purchasing an additional 394,920 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth $22,531,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $63.53 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.41. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $47.23 and a one year high of $66.54. The firm has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. 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 (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million during 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%. On average, analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Company 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.