Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 22,122 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 17.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,122 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Ameren were worth $7,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,447,516,000 after buying an additional 802,714 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Ameren by 25.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,696,022,000 after buying an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,849,000 after buying an additional 156,733 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 0.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,877,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,836,000 after buying an additional 23,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Ameren by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,764,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,657,000 after buying an additional 11,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.91.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.64. 18,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,686,462. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $86.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Insider Activity

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

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.