Swiss National Bank Lowers Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 821,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $59,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 3,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its holdings in Ameren by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 8,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its position in Ameren by 46.7% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Ameren by 0.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $74.09 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.36. The company has a market capitalization of $19.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $90.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on 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 issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

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.