Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 58,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 482 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Ameren were worth $5,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after buying an additional 39,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 59.8% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 106.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after buying an additional 1,286,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.89.

Ameren Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $86.93 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $95.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.60.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% 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.