National Bank of Canada FI Has $24.15 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 54.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 95,948 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.10% of Ameren worth $24,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $437,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 4.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,087 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 50.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 168,242 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,714,000 after purchasing an additional 56,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in Ameren by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 8,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.60.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $2.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,418,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,571,055. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $98.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

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.