Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stock Position Lifted by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,938 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $10,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,086,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 5,595 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 235.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 75,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,767,000 after acquiring an additional 53,273 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AEE. Evercore ISI raised 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.40.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $100.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $96.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.28. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its 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 period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Company 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.