Koshinski Asset Management Inc. Sells 17,491 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 82.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,664 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,491 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Colony Group LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 3.7% during the first quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Ameren by 0.7% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 2.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in Ameren by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Ameren from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ameren from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Ameren Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of AEE stock traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,105,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,794,991. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $91.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.51. The company has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.