California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,629,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,052 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.62% of Ameren worth $117,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 7,133.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,670,000 after buying an additional 947,011 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,289,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,512,000 after acquiring an additional 660,654 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Ameren by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $171,081,000 after acquiring an additional 532,800 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 1,770.6% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 355,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,596,000 after acquiring an additional 336,416 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in Ameren by 180.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 521,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,037,000 after acquiring an additional 335,398 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $74.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $91.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.53.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.33%.

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.