Truist Financial Corp Lowers Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. 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. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 117.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 108.1% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $88.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $88.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren 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.