Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Icon Advisers Inc. Co.

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. cut its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,781 shares during the quarter. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ameren by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 35,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $215,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. Barclays dropped 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.22.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $97.44 on Monday. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.07.

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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.