Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 1,778,169 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 89.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 210,789 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,778,169 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $12,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 7,083.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 517.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 617 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in Alliant Energy by 251.2% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Alliant Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 79.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNT has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.58 on Friday. Alliant Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.23 and a fifty-two week high of $66.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.73 and its 200-day moving average is $60.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued 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 was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.