First Merchants Corp Trims Stock Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

First Merchants Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 70.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,572 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,885 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $1,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RDA Financial Network raised its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 7,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Alliant Energy by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Alliant Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in Alliant Energy by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. 79.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alliant Energy Stock Performance

LNT opened at $61.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.41. The stock has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.60. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $46.80 and a 1-year high of $64.19. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.5075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNT. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.39.

Alliant Energy 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.