New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 6,228 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,228 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ameren were worth $22,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. CFC Planning Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at about $908,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Ameren by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,315,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 7,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,414,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $98.01 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $68.60 and a 1-year high of $100.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.04 and a 200-day moving average of $88.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Company 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.