Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Increases Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 841.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 249,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 222,900 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.09% of Ameren worth $22,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,411,125,000 after acquiring an additional 392,170 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 474,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,255,000 after acquiring an additional 47,842 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 218.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 106,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,474,000 after purchasing an additional 72,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $98.30 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $98.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.81. The stock has a market cap of $26.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AEE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.22.

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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