Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 9,291 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 161,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,291 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.06% of Ameren worth $14,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 15.9% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 9.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 30,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,682,000 after buying an additional 2,561 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 77.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 7.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 129,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,346,000 after buying an additional 8,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE AEE opened at $98.01 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $92.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $68.60 and a 12 month high of $100.62.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

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.