Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY reduced its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,125 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Ameren were worth $5,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 218.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Stock Up 0.4 %

Ameren stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $73.63. The company had a trading volume of 123,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,013. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $71.27 and its 200-day moving average is $73.72. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $91.18.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America lowered shares of Ameren from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $82.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.