Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,299 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,997 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $2,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AEE traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $99.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 266,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,433,510. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.72 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.82.

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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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 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 valued at $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.70.

Ameren Company 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.