Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 83,329 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 323,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 83,329 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $28,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $99.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.51. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share 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 represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.