Xponance Inc. Sells 5,948 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Xponance Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 12.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,948 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 3.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,582,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,417,351,000 after buying an additional 1,268,457 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ameren by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,717,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,317,423,000 after purchasing an additional 297,386 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,242,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $692,794,000 after acquiring an additional 192,808 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,223,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $597,673,000 after buying an additional 179,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,090,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,936,000 after purchasing an additional 432,182 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s 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 owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $113.17 on Monday. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $91.77 and a 52 week high of $113.44. The firm has a market cap of $31.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $104.21 and its 200-day moving average is $102.81.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced 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. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The business had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 53.08%.

About Ameren

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.