Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 588,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 42,663 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Ameren were worth $51,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 106.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 8,645.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,723 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Ameren by 3,738.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,234,000 after purchasing an additional 726,438 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its stake in Ameren by 192.6% in the second quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,103,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,475,000 after purchasing an additional 726,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Ameren by 155.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 648,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,101,000 after purchasing an additional 394,700 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.90.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $94.98 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $95.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.81. The company has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.