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

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 38.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,279 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $3,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 59,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 21,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 30,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LNT shares. 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Alliant Energy stock opened at $58.88 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $46.80 and a 1 year high of $64.19. The firm has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.09.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

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.