CreativeOne Wealth LLC Acquires 289 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $98.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.38.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.22.

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.