Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,582,923 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,949 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.62% of Alliant Energy worth $81,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNT. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alliant Energy news, CEO Lisa M. Barton acquired 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $48.56 per share, with a total value of $53,416.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 36,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,769,720.64. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on LNT shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.36.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LNT traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $50.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,312,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,921,795. Alliant Energy Co. has a one year low of $45.15 and a one year high of $56.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $48.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.55.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $961.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.85% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Alliant Energy's dividend payout ratio is 69.06%.

About Alliant Energy

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.