Quadrant Capital Group LLC Sells 868 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 30.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 868 shares during the quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,824,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,379,000 after acquiring an additional 101,023 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,430,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,867,000 after acquiring an additional 29,921 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,081,000 after acquiring an additional 532,800 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,764,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,657,000 after acquiring an additional 11,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 1,574,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,925,000 after acquiring an additional 223,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ameren from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.90.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $73.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.35 and its 200 day moving average is $73.20. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $88.72.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 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 $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ameren 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 directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,900 shares of company stock worth $931,350 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.