Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 57,478 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,050 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,478 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $4,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 517.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of LNT opened at $63.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.85. Alliant Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $46.80 and a 12 month high of $64.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LNT shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank downgraded Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.25.

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.