Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $98.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.17. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.68 and a 12 month high of $98.69.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

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.