Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,870,315 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 227,730 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 1.08% of Ameren worth $255,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% during 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ameren by 51.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 265.0% during 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. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Ameren by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after buying an additional 334,752 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Ameren Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:AEE traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $100.35. The stock had a trading volume of 525,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,279. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.20. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $27.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.