Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Buys Shares of 3,698 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,698 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 59.8% during the third 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 worth $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 265.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 126,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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Ameren Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of AEE traded up $1.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,334,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,360. The company has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.77. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted 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 last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS 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 paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.70.

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.