Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 179 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) by 0.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,960,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 179 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $157,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. CI Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1,006.5% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 78.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 3,130 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.19, for a total value of $254,124.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,681,398.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 3,130 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.19, for a total value of $254,124.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,681,398.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,900 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.15, for a total transaction of $163,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,509 shares of company stock worth $5,221,792 in the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Ameren from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $84.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.90.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $85.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.41. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $73.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.20.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 13.50% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.87%.

Ameren Profile

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Ameren Corp. is a public utility holding company, which engages in the provision of electric and natural gas services. It operates through the following segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, Ameren Transmission, and Other. The Ameren Transmission segment consists of the aggregated electric transmission businesses of Ameren Illinois and Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI).