Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Buys New Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Ameren by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock 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 objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $95.88 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren 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.