Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 392,170 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 10.13% of Ameren worth $2,411,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $600,157,000 after acquiring an additional 77,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Ameren by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Ameren by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $172,907,000 after buying an additional 38,939 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $99.17 on Wednesday. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $98.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.56. The stock has a market cap of $26.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 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 period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. 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. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 boosted their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.22.

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.

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