Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,723 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 3,738.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,234,000 after purchasing an additional 726,438 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 484.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,733,000 after purchasing an additional 528,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $98.01 on Monday. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $68.60 and a 1-year high of $100.62. The stock has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $92.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its 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 net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.