International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 1,147,723 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 98.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,147,723 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Ameren by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 331,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,019,000 after buying an additional 19,217 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.89.

Ameren Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $89.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $90.44 and its 200 day moving average is $84.50. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $95.69. The firm has a market cap of $23.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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

Ameren Company 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.