7,805 Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Bought by RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,805 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock traded down $5.80 on Friday, reaching $95.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,099,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,557,548. The company's fifty day moving average is $98.21 and its 200 day moving average is $92.57. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

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 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 last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Ameren's payout ratio is 64.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a 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 company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.