Vestcor Inc Decreases Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 25.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,824 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the second quarter worth $42,367,000. Eagle Ridge Investment Management purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,804,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 8.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 512,429 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,705,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 2,141.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 180,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,182,000 after purchasing an additional 172,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT stock opened at $60.45 on Friday. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $46.80 and a one year high of $64.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.18. The firm has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.59.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank downgraded 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 research report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.39.

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.