Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP Cuts Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP reduced its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,230 shares during the quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AEE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 100,874.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,604,406,000 after buying an additional 74,200,015 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,051,453,000 after buying an additional 2,200,700 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,302,326,000 after buying an additional 1,029,187 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 7,133.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,670,000 after buying an additional 947,011 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,978,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,810,808,000 after buying an additional 681,658 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $71.74 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.47 and a 200-day moving average of $73.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $91.18.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.33%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lowered Ameren from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.50.

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.