American Century Companies Inc. Has $6.85 Million Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,703 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $6,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ameren by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after acquiring an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Ameren by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 174,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,291,000 after acquiring an additional 63,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $317,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,441,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,565,990. 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 stock has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.77.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren 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.