Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC cut its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,985 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Ameren worth $12,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,015,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,723 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 3,738.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $65,234,000 after purchasing an additional 726,438 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 484.8% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,733,000 after acquiring an additional 528,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Ameren by 26.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE traded down $0.83 on Thursday, hitting $97.07. 2,594,278 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,586,248. The business's fifty day moving average is $92.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.80. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $100.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AEE. Barclays downgraded Ameren from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.70.

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.