Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Director Craig S. Ivey Sells 2,716 Shares

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $98.52. The company had a trading volume of 4,117,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,705. The company has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $100.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.86.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.70.

Institutional Trading of Ameren

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 77.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Ameren by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 129,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,346,000 after buying an additional 8,540 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $257,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

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.