Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 158 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $86,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Ameren during the third quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at $74,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $99.69 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $100.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $93.68 and its 200 day moving average is $89.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49.

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 the consensus estimate 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 company posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEE. Barclays downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

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.