Forsta AP Fonden Lowers Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,200 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,400 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $3,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company's stock worth $97,363,000 after purchasing an additional 771,919 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake 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 worth $395,260,000 after buying an additional 512,429 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 698.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,705,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 172,353 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.39.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Alliant Energy stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $59.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,359,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,349. The stock has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.25. 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 52 week low of $46.80 and a 52 week high of $64.19.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Alliant Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is currently 78.68%.

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.