Xponance Inc. Sells 594 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 594 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,824,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,379,000 after buying an additional 101,023 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,430,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $181,867,000 after buying an additional 29,921 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Ameren by 30.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,081,000 after purchasing an additional 532,800 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.1% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,637,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,549,000 after purchasing an additional 17,468 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd grew its holdings in Ameren by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 1,574,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,925,000 after purchasing an additional 223,790 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $91.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.40.

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.