3,304 Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Purchased by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 45,416 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,972,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 41,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,614,000 after acquiring an additional 5,016 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 76,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,650,000 after acquiring an additional 4,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 791,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.70.

Ameren Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AEE stock traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.89. The stock had a trading volume of 3,577,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,612. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $96.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.45. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.