Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stock Holdings Cut by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,509,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the quarter. Ameren accounts for 1.6% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $134,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 in the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $98.64 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $97.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AEE. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

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.