Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Holdings Trimmed by Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC reduced its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,323 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $84,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp raised Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:AEE opened at $95.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, 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. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $98.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.11.

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). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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