Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.15 Million Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 15,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $74.02 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $91.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released 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 return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.33%.

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.