Xponance Inc. Sells 1,190 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,190 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in 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. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $100.01 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.71 and its 200 day moving average is $91.34. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.10.

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.