Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Rothschild Investment LLC

Rothschild Investment LLC reduced its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 484.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,733,000 after buying an additional 528,270 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 26.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,469,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,950,000 after acquiring an additional 434,889 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $98.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $100.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $93.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.24.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its 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 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 60.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.70.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.