TIAA Trust National Association Sells 1,192 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

TIAA Trust National Association reduced its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,192 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Ameren were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 245.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,093,000 after buying an additional 40,202 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ameren by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,007,000 after buying an additional 12,431 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at $1,168,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 493.0% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 18,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,849,000 after purchasing an additional 156,733 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted 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 cut their price target on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ameren from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.91.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.82. 1,065,100 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,424,536. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $72.10 and its 200-day moving average is $71.96. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $88.72. The stock has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.08). Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

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.