Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 31,047 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Guggenheim Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,530 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,047 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $6,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $602,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth about $2,063,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 698.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,400,000 after buying an additional 394,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company's stock worth $71,839,000 after buying an additional 101,387 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LNT traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.67. 1,166,845 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,601,236. The business's fifty day moving average price is $62.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.82. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, 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. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $49.05 and a 12-month high of $66.54.

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

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is 75.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays downgraded Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.