Fmr LLC Acquires 2,539,129 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Fmr LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 96.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $460,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related 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 transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays dropped their target price on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.60.

Ameren Trading Up 2.4 %

Ameren stock opened at $96.52 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.87. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The company has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.