Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 59.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 207,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,113 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $18,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the 4th 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ameren by 51.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Ameren by 57.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 174,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after acquiring an additional 63,993 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth $317,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,315,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AEE. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.60.

Ameren Stock Up 2.4 %

AEE stock opened at $96.52 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.