Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lowered its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 40.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,543 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,810 shares during the quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP's holdings in Ameren were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.7%

AEE stock traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.88. The company had a trading volume of 312,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,791,711. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $26.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10.

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

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AEE. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.80.

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.