ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd Sells 1,262,004 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd trimmed its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 99.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,262,004 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd’s holdings in Ameren were worth $196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 126,157 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $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 is available through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $97.44 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.67. The company has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised 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 target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.40.

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.