Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Purchased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 55.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,626 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $1,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Ameren by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 35,686 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $463,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren 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 owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.31. 1,747,644 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,582,655. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.31. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.22.

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.