Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,334,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 463,201 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Ameren worth $2,971,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 484.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,733,000 after purchasing an additional 528,270 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,469,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,950,000 after purchasing an additional 434,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ameren by 51.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.7 %

AEE stock opened at $97.17 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $97.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.77. The company has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.