Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $995,000 Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 68.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,298 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ameren were worth $995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Ameren by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank lifted its stake in Ameren by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Ameren by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $73.66 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $90.72. The company has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. 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. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

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.