Prudential Financial Inc. Has $8.07 Million Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 136,384 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,584 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $8,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 92.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,363,000 after acquiring an additional 771,919 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Alliant Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,225,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 698.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 451,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,400,000 after buying an additional 394,920 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service bought a new stake in Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $22,531,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,677,000. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $63.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. 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 1-year low of $47.23 and a 1-year high of $66.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.67.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Equities analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.5075 dividend. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LNT. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.55.

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.