Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys New Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 97,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,671,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $96.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.33. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AEE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.90.

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.