Westpac Banking Corp Decreases Stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Westpac Banking Corp cut its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,254 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,004 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,012,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,724,000 after purchasing an additional 499,802 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,017,000 after buying an additional 102,601 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after buying an additional 11,374 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 77,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,565,000 after buying an additional 15,073 shares during the last quarter. 79.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on LNT shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Scotiabank cut shares of 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LNT opened at $61.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.81. 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 $47.23 and a 12-month high of $66.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

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.