California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 166,825 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 846,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 166,825 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ameren were worth $88,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 6,040.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 30.9% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $112.82 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $106.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Ameren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $91.77 and a fifty-two week high of $113.64.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.