Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. trimmed its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,078 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. owned 0.09% of Ameren worth $16,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ameren by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 117.6% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $83.17 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $84.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

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.