UBS Group AG Lowers Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

UBS Group AG decreased its position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Rating) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,267 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned about 0.12% of Alliant Energy worth $16,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 67.2% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 225,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,923,000 after purchasing an additional 90,400 shares during the period. Balentine LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alliant Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $450,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 237,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,089,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in Alliant Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 12,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.89% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Price Performance

Alliant Energy stock opened at $52.61 on Friday. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $47.19 and a 1 year high of $64.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.56. The company has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.08). Alliant Energy had a net margin of 15.60% and a return on equity of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Alliant Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.4525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Alliant Energy from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.67.

Alliant Energy Profile

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Alliant Energy Corp. is a regulated investor-owned public utility holding company, which engages in the provision of regulated electricity and natural gas service to natural gas customers in the Midwest through its two public utility subsidiaries. It operates through following segments: Electric Utility, Gas Utility, Other Utility, and Non-Utility and Other.