Signaturefd LLC Sells 787 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Signaturefd LLC lessened its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 787 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 5.5% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $850,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Ameren by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 52.8% during the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AEE opened at $82.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $84.40. The company has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.02.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.