Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 201,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 34,766 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Ameren were worth $17,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE AEE opened at $100.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

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.