Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stake Trimmed by Zimmer Partners LP

Zimmer Partners LP decreased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 65.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,033,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,927,174 shares during the quarter. Ameren accounts for about 1.6% of Zimmer Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Zimmer Partners LP owned approximately 0.39% of Ameren worth $92,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Barclays increased their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp upgraded 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.90.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62% 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.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $96.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,451,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,913. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $98.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.22.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Ameren's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

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.