Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,113,502 shares of the company's stock after selling 450,868 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.82% of Alliant Energy worth $124,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LNT. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter worth $32,225,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,724,000 after buying an additional 499,802 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 698.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company's stock worth $27,400,000 after buying an additional 394,920 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $22,531,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,677,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.73. The stock had a trading volume of 840,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,590,994. The firm has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock's 50 day moving average is $62.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.82. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.54.

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Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LNT shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.55.

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.