Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 294 Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Moors & Cabot Inc. trimmed its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the first quarter valued at approximately $897,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,552,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $103.32 on Tuesday. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $78.91 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.42. The firm has a market cap of $27.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The company’s revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 62.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.36.

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.