Farther Finance Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 36.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,024 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 115.3% during 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 during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 117.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the first quarter valued at $31,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Ameren Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $83.81 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.35. The company has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $84.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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. 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.