Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 396,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 35,230 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned about 0.15% of Ameren worth $34,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 493.0% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 18,064 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 703.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 129,346 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 113,250 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 392.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 15,484 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 137.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,407,000 after purchasing an additional 57,923 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,632,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $86.45. 1,011,943 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,521,091. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $88.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.94. The company has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

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.