Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 4,697 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,697 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Ameren worth $11,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 115.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Ameren during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 117.6% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $85.62 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $80.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $85.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’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 value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.