State of Michigan Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 72,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Ameren were worth $6,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Ameren by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 36,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,284,000 after acquiring an additional 7,694 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.40.

Ameren Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $97.05 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.