JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,095,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,857 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.41% of Ameren worth $97,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded down $1.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $94.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,606,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,561,726. The company has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $98.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.70. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.