Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 245.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 40,202 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $1,168,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,272,000 after purchasing an additional 36,611 shares in the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth about $473,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Ameren by 1.1% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,637,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,549,000 after acquiring an additional 17,468 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $74.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $91.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.53.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 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 company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

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