Empowered Funds LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 75.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,469 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zimmer Partners LP increased its holdings in Ameren by 204.3% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after buying an additional 2,569,897 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 106.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,162 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd boosted its stake in Ameren by 2.3% in the second quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 1,753,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,675,000 after acquiring an additional 38,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,723 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AEE. Bank of America increased their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.3 %

AEE stock opened at $93.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $94.61.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.