New England Asset Management Inc. Sells 12,700 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

New England Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,550 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,700 shares during the quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.05% of Alliant Energy worth $6,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 68.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,802,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,485 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 289.7% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 976,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,302,000 after buying an additional 725,800 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,194,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,679,000 after buying an additional 505,101 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 224.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 468,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,052,000 after buying an additional 324,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in Alliant Energy by 214.6% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 423,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,726,000 after acquiring an additional 288,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of LNT traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,143,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,986. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.87. The company has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.57. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $45.15 and a 1-year high of $56.26.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LNT. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $48.50 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.38.

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.