Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Kentucky Trust Co

Kentucky Trust Co lessened its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 2.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Trust Co’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in Ameren by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.80.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $94.26 on Friday. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The firm has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $97.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

About Ameren

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.