Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service cut its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 381,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,620 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ameren were worth $33,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 2.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 72,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,343,000 after buying an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Ameren by 76.4% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 6,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 44,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 6,445 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.1 %

AEE stock opened at $87.78 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $89.54. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.80.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.