Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 17,740 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 13.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,740 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $10,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AEE. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after buying an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Ameren by 0.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 106.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.89.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $89.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.17. The stock has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $95.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.