Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Natixis

Natixis lowered its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 89.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 462 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,790 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Ameren were worth $41,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the 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 owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.33.

Ameren Trading Down 0.6 %

Ameren stock traded down $0.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $98.61. The company had a trading volume of 322,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,582,812. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $98.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. 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%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

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.