Amundi Buys 107,243 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Amundi lifted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 320,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 107,243 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.12% of Ameren worth $28,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth about $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in 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, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,198,000 after acquiring an additional 126,157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $1.56 on Monday, hitting $100.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,861,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,448. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $95.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

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Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 2.82%. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. Evercore ISI raised 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.40.

Ameren Company 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.