Field & Main Bank Has $200,000 Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Field & Main Bank decreased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 64.9% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 124.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its stake in Ameren by 46.7% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AEE. StockNews.com cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

Ameren Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AEE stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Monday, reaching $74.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,392,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,731,385. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $90.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

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.