Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 323,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 83,329 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Ameren worth $28,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ameren by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,149,221,000 after acquiring an additional 334,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Ameren by 0.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $398,992,000 after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $202,779,000 after buying an additional 479,668 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $98.22. The company had a trading volume of 165,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,071. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $95.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.67. The stock has a market cap of $26.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10.

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 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AEE. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.40.

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.