Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,141 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Ameren by 115.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 117.6% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 108.1% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AEE. UBS Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.80.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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 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 $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $88.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $89.54.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

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.