Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 37.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,876 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Ameren by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,315,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,367,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $95.52 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.67. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.97%.

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.