Private Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 989 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,978,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,810,808,000 after acquiring an additional 681,658 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,753,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,847,293,000 after acquiring an additional 786,490 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ameren by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,302,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,187 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Ameren by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,546,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $493,699,000 after buying an additional 662,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 493.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,654,972 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $436,452,000 after buying an additional 3,870,393 shares during the last quarter. 77.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Warner L. Baxter sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.19, for a total transaction of $5,032,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 267,893 shares in the company, valued at $24,964,948.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Warner L. Baxter sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.19, for a total value of $5,032,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 267,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,964,948.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $153,712.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,362,080.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Up 2.7 %

Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 14.49% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 6th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 60.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AEE. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ameren from $99.00 to $91.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ameren from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 12th. UBS Group cut Ameren from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $96.00 in a report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.13.

Ameren Company Profile

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Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. The company engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution and transmission businesses.

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