Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Director Craig S. Ivey Sells 2,716 Shares of Stock

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $98.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $92.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.86. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $100.61.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 60.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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 issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,410,000 after buying an additional 1,147,723 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.