Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,012,572 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 499,802 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 2.73% of Alliant Energy worth $414,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy in the third quarter worth about $274,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 44,816 shares of the company's stock worth $2,720,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. PEAK6 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $228,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 53.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 4,226 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $272,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNT has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.55.

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Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT traded down $1.69 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.67. 1,319,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,571,673. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.54. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $62.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $15.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

Alliant Energy 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.