Ameren Corporation $AEE Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 37.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,941 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $7,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 3.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,582,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,417,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268,457 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ameren by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,717,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,317,423,000 after purchasing an additional 297,386 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,242,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $692,794,000 after purchasing an additional 192,808 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Ameren by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,223,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $597,673,000 after purchasing an additional 179,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,090,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,936,000 after purchasing an additional 432,182 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE AEE opened at $110.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $91.77 and a one year high of $112.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.57.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. Ameren’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Profile

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.