Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,321 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 8.5% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 81,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,087,000 after buying an additional 6,379 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth approximately $299,000. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $1,204,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Ameren by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 26,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,949,000 after buying an additional 3,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ameren by 125.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $71.11 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.95. The firm has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $88.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. Ameren’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays upgraded Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.20.

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.