Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Position Reduced by Maple Brown Abbott Ltd

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd decreased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,631,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 121,340 shares during the quarter. Ameren makes up 14.2% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd owned about 0.61% of Ameren worth $142,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its position in Ameren by 0.6% during the second quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Ameren by 115.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.1 %

AEE stock opened at $87.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $88.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.24. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. Bank of America upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.33.

Ameren Company 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.