Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by BLB&B Advisors LLC

BLB&B Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 72,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,190,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Ameren by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 58,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,183,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Slagle Financial LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its stake in Ameren by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 12,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $912,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.10.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at $981,520.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $82.34. 1,414,595 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,638,110. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $84.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.63 and a 200 day moving average of $73.87.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Ameren Company Profile

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.