Insider Selling: Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) CFO Sells 6,500 Shares of Stock

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $93.81. 903,957 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,591,402. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.12. The company has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $94.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.06%.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Ameren by 392.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 15,484 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Ameren in the third quarter worth approximately $1,417,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,632,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Ameren by 137.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,407,000 after buying an additional 57,923 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 172,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,754,000 after buying an additional 25,898 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.90.

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.