Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stock Position Decreased by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,676 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ameren were worth $19,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 117.6% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter worth $30,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE AEE traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $82.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 254,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,643,765. The company has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $84.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AEE. StockNews.com upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.10.

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.