Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 8,087 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 290.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,087 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 7.1% in 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 during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Ameren

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, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AEE. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.22.

Ameren Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AEE stock traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,321,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,574,852. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.02. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.