SVB Wealth LLC Decreases Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

SVB Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.7% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $205,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 124.4% in the third quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 4,230 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.1% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.53. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $91.18.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

About Ameren

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.