Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Bought by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 218.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 72,900 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Ameren were worth $9,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $600,157,000 after acquiring an additional 77,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in 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 worth $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Ameren by 116.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $172,907,000 after buying an additional 38,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.84. 154,365 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,582,393. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.95. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.33.

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.