Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) is Soroban Capital Partners LP’s 10th Largest Position

Soroban Capital Partners LP cut its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,704,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 339,881 shares during the quarter. Ameren comprises about 3.2% of Soroban Capital Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Soroban Capital Partners LP owned 1.01% of Ameren worth $241,117,000 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 the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Ameren by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Ameren by 116.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,250,000 after buying an additional 926,126 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.80.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock opened at $97.99 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $98.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.