Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp decreased its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,412 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 7,133.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,670,000 after buying an additional 947,011 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 105.0% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,289,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,512,000 after acquiring an additional 660,654 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 30.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,081,000 after acquiring an additional 532,800 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1,770.6% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 355,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,596,000 after acquiring an additional 336,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 180.0% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 521,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,037,000 after acquiring an additional 335,398 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Ameren Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE AEE opened at $74.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $72.29 and its 200 day moving average is $73.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $90.80. The stock has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

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.