Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stock Position Reduced by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank decreased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,239 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $8,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Ameren by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 116.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,250,000 after buying an additional 926,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.5%

Ameren stock opened at $98.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $98.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.04. The firm has a market cap of $26.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.80.

Ameren Company 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.