Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,334,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 463,201 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.49% of Ameren worth $2,971,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AEE. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.3% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 117.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after buying an additional 11,802 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $248,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 39,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,453,000 after acquiring an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Ameren by 49.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 556,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,168,000 after acquiring an additional 185,173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group increased 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 lifted their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock opened at $97.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.77. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The firm has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.