Fmr LLC Has $460.92 Million Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 96.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned approximately 1.94% of Ameren worth $460,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Ameren by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 35,686 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth $286,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Ameren by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 174,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,291,000 after acquiring an additional 63,993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AEE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.22.

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Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.50. The stock had a trading volume of 331,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,573,589. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.16. The firm has a market cap of $26.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, 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.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.