Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 641 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 5.8% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 43,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,379 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in 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 worth $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 484.8% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,733,000 after purchasing an additional 528,270 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Ameren by 4.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 46,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. 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. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.6 %

Ameren stock opened at $92.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.16. The stock has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $95.69. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Ameren Company 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.