Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 239,366 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,438,521 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 239,366 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 2.41% of Ameren worth $573,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its holdings in Ameren by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $99.67. 1,105,161 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,580,103. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

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.