Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 729 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 124.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in Ameren by 96.7% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.1 %

Ameren stock opened at $70.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $88.72. The company has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.28.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,318,410.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AEE shares. Barclays raised Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameren from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.70.

About Ameren

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.