Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Trims Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. trimmed its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 489 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Ameren by 5.6% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $91,000. Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 183.4% during the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 7,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $94.06 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.12. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $94.21. The stock has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.80.

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.