Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 39,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the second quarter worth $322,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Ameren in the second quarter valued at $372,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 496,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,294,000 after purchasing an additional 89,267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $85.65 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $81.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $86.15.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.00.

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.