Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by APG Asset Management N.V.

APG Asset Management N.V. decreased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 15.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 684,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 121,331 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned 0.26% of Ameren worth $45,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 61.7% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 135,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,629,000 after buying an additional 51,669 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Ameren by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 195,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,931,000 after acquiring an additional 21,794 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Ameren by 62.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 51,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 19,643 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 35,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 25.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 371,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,454,000 after purchasing an additional 75,420 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $86.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.79. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.33.

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.