Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 217,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,367,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.08% of Ameren as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company's 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 owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.10.

Ameren Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE AEE traded down $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $100.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,889,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,429,012. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $96.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.28. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

About Ameren

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.