Bank & Trust Co Lowers Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Bank & Trust Co lowered its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,093 shares during the period. Ameren comprises 2.3% of Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,417,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,632,000. Lindenwold Advisors INC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,682,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Ameren by 79.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 246,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,496,000 after buying an additional 108,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE traded up $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 324,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,928. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $95.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $90.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AEE. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.89.

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.