Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 1,040 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,040 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $74,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. Barclays raised their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.40.

Ameren Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of AEE opened at $97.05 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.17. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.