Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 504,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,007 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Ameren were worth $44,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 41,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,614,000 after buying an additional 5,016 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 6.1% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 76,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,650,000 after acquiring an additional 4,378 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 791,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AEE opened at $100.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $27.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AEE. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Profile

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.