LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,121 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $11,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.6% during the third 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 last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 63,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $317,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AEE. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.70.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on AEE
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Ameren 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.
Ameren Stock Performance
Shares of AEE stock traded down $1.49 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $94.30. 2,606,325 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,724. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $98.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.70.
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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Ameren's payout ratio is 64.25%.
About Ameren
(
Free Report)
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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