Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,466 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Ameren worth $15,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $98.78 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $100.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.24.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target 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 stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ameren

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.