Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 187,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,257 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. owned 0.07% of Ameren worth $18,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,696,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,256,000 after purchasing an additional 43,289 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 15,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:AEE traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.86. 637,604 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,571,373. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $25.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $70.19 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.14.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target 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. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.64.

Ameren Company 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.