Moors & Cabot Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Moors & Cabot Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,274 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ameren by 22.9% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Natixis purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at $91,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 108.1% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 10.8% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Ameren by 3.4% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 25,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.90.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock opened at $93.81 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $94.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.29. The company has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

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.