Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 463,201 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,334,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 463,201 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.49% of Ameren worth $2,971,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AEE. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 7.3% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 117.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,848 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 11,802 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $248,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 10.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 39,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,453,000 after acquiring an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 49.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 556,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,168,000 after acquiring an additional 185,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.70.

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Ameren Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $1.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $99.71. 1,797,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,532,608. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.08.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last 90 days. Company 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.