CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Trims Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lowered its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 134,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,967 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Ameren were worth $12,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Barclays PLC increased its position in Ameren by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,849,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $463,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 331,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,019,000 after buying an additional 19,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $96.43 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.53 and its 200 day moving average is $93.52. 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 (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.22.

Ameren 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.