Transce3nd LLC Acquires Shares of 5,956 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $531,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,157,000 after acquiring an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $172,907,000 after buying an additional 38,939 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ameren Stock Up 0.3 %

Ameren stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $98.95. 847,428 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,584,212. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $98.55 and a 200 day moving average of $93.60. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 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 was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.