Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1.27 Million Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,004 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 265.0% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,198,000 after buying an additional 126,157 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after buying an additional 334,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $98.89 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.51. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AEE. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.70.

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.