Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stake Trimmed by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,073 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Ameren were worth $5,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Ameren by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,315,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $19,367,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. Barclays raised their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $98.83. 1,751,043 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,569,217. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Ameren's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

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.