Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,133,304 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,699 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.44% of Alliant Energy worth $72,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Alliant Energy during the first quarter worth $2,414,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 22.8% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 4,226 shares of the company's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in Alliant Energy by 44.5% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 6,759 shares of the company's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 2,080 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 23,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 29,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company's stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 0.7%

Alliant Energy stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Monday, hitting $61.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,394,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,156. The stock's fifty day moving average is $61.16 and its 200 day moving average is $61.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.34. Alliant Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $51.23 and a 1-year high of $66.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.56.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Corporation will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alliant Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays cut Alliant Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.32.

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.