Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 253 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ameren were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.5% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Ameren by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $98.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.11. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $100.61.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

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.