Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) Shares Sold by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 9.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 935 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 196,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,915,000 after buying an additional 25,161 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Alliant Energy in the second quarter worth about $1,248,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Alliant Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,742,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 9.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,839,000 after purchasing an additional 101,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,216,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,518,000 after purchasing an additional 14,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $58.95 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.72 and a 200-day moving average of $57.51. 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 has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.59. Alliant Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $46.80 and a twelve month high of $64.19.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 16.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank cut shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.39.

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.