Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Bank & Trust Co

Bank & Trust Co trimmed its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,194 shares during the quarter. Ameren accounts for approximately 2.4% of Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Ameren by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,315,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,367,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on Ameren and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.00.

Ameren Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AEE opened at $97.11 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

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.