Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Soroban Capital Partners LP

Soroban Capital Partners LP lessened its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,704,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 339,881 shares during the period. Ameren makes up 3.2% of Soroban Capital Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Soroban Capital Partners LP owned about 1.01% of Ameren worth $241,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $901,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Ameren by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.90.

Ameren Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,451,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,153. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $2.10 billion during 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

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

About Ameren

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.