Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys Shares of 97,270 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 97,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,671,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $96.82. 2,370,624 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,557,708. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The business's 50 day moving average is $97.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Ameren's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.90.

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.