Jag Capital Management LLC Sells 605 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Jag Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 605 shares during the period. Jag Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,696,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,256,000 after buying an additional 43,289 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased 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 buying an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 36,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,284,000 after buying an additional 7,694 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.70.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $103.71 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $103.87. The stock has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.94.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

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.