Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lowered its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 99.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,262,004 shares during the quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd’s holdings in Ameren were worth $196,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted 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 buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $97.44 on Thursday. 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 50 day moving average of $95.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.67. The firm has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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 raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.