National Pension Service Trims Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

National Pension Service lowered its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 381,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,620 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.14% of Ameren worth $33,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its position in Ameren by 0.6% during the second quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Ameren by 115.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Ameren by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,237 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AEE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.80.

Ameren Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AEE traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $86.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,826,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,033. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $89.54. The company has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $86.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.85.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.04). Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.21 billion. On average, analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.63%.

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.