Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 920 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in Ameren by 0.6% during the second quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 5.5% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 52.8% in the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $88.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.49. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $88.90.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus 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.