Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Insider Shawn E. Schukar Sells 4,743 Shares

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $98.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.12. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,417,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC acquired a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 265.0% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after purchasing an additional 126,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Ameren

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.