Ameren Corporation $AEE Shares Sold by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,252,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 144,823 shares during the quarter. Ameren comprises approximately 1.5% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.46% of Ameren worth $130,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AEE. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 6,040.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 728.9% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AEE. Barclays reduced their price target on Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.30.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $109.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.56. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $91.77 and a twelve month high of $113.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.37.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.Ameren’s revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is 56.07%.

Ameren 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.