Moors & Cabot Inc. Decreases Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,274 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the first quarter worth $31,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 108.1% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 227.3% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.90.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $93.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $94.46.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren 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.