Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 35.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,643 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $4,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ameren by 51.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 265.0% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,198,000 after acquiring an additional 126,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,149,221,000 after acquiring an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $1.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.86. 1,334,679 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,436,360. The stock has a market cap of $26.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.77. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10.

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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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 company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.