Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 1,160 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,160 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $1,417,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC bought a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ameren by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 265.0% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,198,000 after buying an additional 126,157 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $103.71 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.94. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $103.87. The stock has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG 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 (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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.