Deutsche Bank AG Sells 124,570 Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG reduced its stake in Ameren Corporation by 15.6%, selling 124,570 shares, and now owns 0.25% of the company, worth approximately $67.6 million.
• Various institutional investors, including Whittier Trust Co. and Captrust Financial Advisors, have increased their stakes in Ameren, indicating a strong interest in the stock.
• Wall Street analysts have a Moderate Buy average rating on Ameren, with a range of price targets, the highest being set at $112.00 by Wells Fargo.

Deutsche Bank AG trimmed its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 673,590 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 124,570 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.25% of Ameren worth $67,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Ameren during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 74.5% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 586.9% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Five 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.36.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.69. 804,996 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,721,025. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $81.31 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $97.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.78.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 14.55%. The firm's revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

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.