Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Position Reduced by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. cut its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,851 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. owned 0.07% of Ameren worth $16,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Ameren Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $98.01 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $68.60 and a 12 month high of $100.62. The firm has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $91.91 and its 200-day moving average is $88.24.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.