Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Bought by Ninepoint Partners LP

Ninepoint Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,528 shares during the quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Ameren by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter valued at $1,682,000. 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 buying an additional 362,772 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 265.0% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,198,000 after buying an additional 126,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price 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 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $99.26 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $26.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 yield of 2.86%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.