Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases 137 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Ameren were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter worth about $1,417,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 51.7% in 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 lifted its holdings in Ameren by 265.0% in 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 own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $98.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.17. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.68 and a 52-week high of $98.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS 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 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 is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 63.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AEE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

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.