Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 505,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.19% of Ameren worth $45,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ameren by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,157,000 after buying an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% in 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 during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 116.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,907,000 after buying an additional 38,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $98.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.16. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.22.

About Ameren

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.