By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AEE. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during 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 during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.
Ameren Stock Performance
NYSE AEE opened at $99.14 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.51. The stock has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ameren Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced 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 a positive change 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 presently 64.25%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % 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 ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently commented on AEE. Barclays raised their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.40.
Read Our Latest Research Report on AEE
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.
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