HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,682 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,595 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $2,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 484.8% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,733,000 after acquiring an additional 528,270 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 26.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 42.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ameren by 51.7% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.
Ameren Trading Down 1.7 %
NYSE:AEE traded down $1.64 on Tuesday, reaching $97.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,395,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,313. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $97.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.67. The firm has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Ameren Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 64.25%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their target price 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.70.
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About Ameren
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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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