Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp cut its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,527 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 106.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,644,000 after buying an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 26.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,954,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,017,000 after acquiring an additional 123,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the second quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 1,753,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,675,000 after acquiring an additional 38,750 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $91.80 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $95.69. The company has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.