SVB Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

SVB Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 7,133.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,670,000 after purchasing an additional 947,011 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 105.0% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,289,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,512,000 after acquiring an additional 660,654 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Ameren by 30.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $171,081,000 after acquiring an additional 532,800 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1,770.6% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 355,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,596,000 after acquiring an additional 336,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Ameren by 180.0% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 521,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,037,000 after acquiring an additional 335,398 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $91.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.