Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 7,150 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,150 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Ameren were worth $5,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter valued at $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 265.0% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,198,000 after purchasing an additional 126,157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.9 %

AEE stock traded down $0.86 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.87. 1,358,899 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,426,250. 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 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.04 and a 200-day moving average of $91.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts predict 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. Investors 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 yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.40.

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.