Man Group plc Decreases Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Man Group plc trimmed its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 79.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,635 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 36,440 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in Ameren were worth $859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,411,125,000 after purchasing an additional 392,170 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,157,000 after purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $410,174,000 after purchasing an additional 39,455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.90.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $95.51. 114,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's fifty day moving average is $97.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.33.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released 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). 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 firm's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. 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.