Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Sells 17,455 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 160,562 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,455 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. owned about 0.06% of Ameren worth $11,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 218.2% in the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 18th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Ameren from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ameren from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Ameren from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $80.11.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $72.89. 1,118,451 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,864,598. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.07 and a 200 day moving average of $73.92. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $91.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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.