New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $10.87 Million Stock Holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 108,218 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Ameren were worth $10,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Ameren by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $190,250,000 after purchasing an additional 926,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $1.36 on Friday, hitting $98.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,383,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,591,193. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $74.87 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.01 and a 200 day moving average of $96.54. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $114.00 target price on shares of Ameren and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.36.

About Ameren

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.