Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AEE. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,157,000 after buying an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,907,000 after acquiring an additional 38,939 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $97.44 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $98.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.02. 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 cap of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

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 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 last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.