Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 0.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ameren were worth $1,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,367,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Ameren by 1,732.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $96.09 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $97.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.76. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.80.

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.