Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 38,939 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.73% of Ameren worth $172,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,469,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $130,950,000 after acquiring an additional 434,889 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.
Ameren Trading Down 5.7 %
Shares of NYSE:AEE traded down $5.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.88. 3,099,087 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,557,548. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock 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. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10. The business's 50 day moving average is $98.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.57.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.
Ameren Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared 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 was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 64.25%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.70.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AEE
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.
About Ameren
(
Free Report)
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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