M&T Bank Corp Sells 15,698 Shares of Alliant Energy Corporation $LNT

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in Alliant Energy by 31.5%, selling 15,698 shares in the quarter and now holds 34,078 shares valued at roughly $2.22 million.
• Alliant Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.535 per share (annualized $2.14, ~3.0% yield); the ex-dividend date is April 30 and the payment date is May 15.
• Analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $76.44 (nine Buy ratings, three Hold ratings), with recent price targets from major firms spanning about $73–$79.

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,078 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,698 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $2,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 91.7% in the third quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 984,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,389,000 after purchasing an additional 470,967 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,015,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,314,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 108.9% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 47,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,175,000 after purchasing an additional 24,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,979,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,453,000 after purchasing an additional 55,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LNT. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $78.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $76.44.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $72.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.61. Alliant Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $58.97 and a 1-year high of $74.40. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.11 million. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.57% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Alliant Energy's payout ratio is presently 67.94%.

Alliant Energy Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation NASDAQ: LNT is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Alliant Energy's core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories.

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