Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 37.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,941 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $7,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 42.2% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after buying an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Ameren by 2.8% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the second quarter valued at approximately $768,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $110.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $91.77 and a 1-year high of $112.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 53.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.30.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.