Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 1,266,051 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 116.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.88% of Ameren worth $210,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Ameren by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.70.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE traded down $5.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,099,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,557,548. The company has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 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. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $98.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.57.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Ameren 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.