Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 8,824 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 22.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,824 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Ameren were worth $2,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 21.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,701,000 after buying an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the first quarter valued at about $769,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 3.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 114,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,724,000 after buying an additional 4,148 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Ameren by 3.1% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 272,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,526,000 after buying an additional 8,174 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 14.4% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. 77.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $250,696.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 198,937 shares in the company, valued at $15,373,851.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,155 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total value of $251,232.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 161,369 shares in the company, valued at $12,849,813.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $250,696.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 198,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,373,851.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AEE opened at $76.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.71 and a 1 year high of $92.43.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 14.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 12th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. Mizuho decreased their price target on Ameren from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ameren from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Ameren from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.89.

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 and transmission businesses.