Permanent Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 2,903 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.40.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $98.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $94.85 and its 200 day moving average is $90.28. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.