Ameren Corporation $AEE Position Reduced by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 41.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 483,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 338,037 shares during the quarter. Ameren comprises approximately 1.2% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $50,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Ameren during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 728.9% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 30.9% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.3%

Ameren stock opened at $111.17 on Tuesday. Ameren Corporation has a 52 week low of $91.77 and a 52 week high of $113.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 53.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.30.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.