Hartford Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter worth about $44,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $98.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.68 and a fifty-two week high of $98.69.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) 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 10.09% and a net margin of 15.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

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.