Insider Selling: Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Insider Sells 6,500 Shares of Stock

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) insider Michael Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.72, for a total transaction of $719,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 193,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,456,428.80. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $113.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,014,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,739,566. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $96.57 and a one year high of $118.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $104.67 and its 200 day moving average is $108.42.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.13. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 17.86%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AEE. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Ameren from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $107.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $124.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $113.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV boosted its stake in Ameren by 2.2% during the first quarter. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV now owns 4,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in Ameren by 1.5% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation is a regulated electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its operating companies, Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois, the company provides electric generation, transmission and distribution services, as well as natural gas distribution.

Ameren serves approximately 2.5 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers across Missouri and Illinois. Its operations include a diverse generation portfolio and infrastructure designed to deliver reliable energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while supporting the transition toward cleaner energy resources.

Ameren was formed in 1997 through the merger of Union Electric Company and CIPSCO Inc The company is led by Martin J.