Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Boosts Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Ameren were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ameren by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Ameren by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,992,000 after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Ameren by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AEE. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Barclays cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2 %

AEE stock opened at $98.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $92.17 and a 200 day moving average of $88.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.31 and a 52 week high of $100.61.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.63%.

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.