Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) EVP Chonda J. Nwamu Sells 5,500 Shares

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $100.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,901,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,729,000. Armis Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $239,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 25,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,671,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.