Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $416,000 Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,160 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Ameren during the third quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 2.1 %

AEE opened at $103.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.94. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $103.87. The stock has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AEE. Barclays downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased 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, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.70.

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.