American Century Companies Inc. Has $4.50 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 60,340 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the third quarter worth $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 218.2% during the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Ameren during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Ameren from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.11.

Ameren Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of AEE opened at $73.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.43. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $91.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.15.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.