Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,445 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $9,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AEE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.40.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $97.44 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $95.38 and its 200 day moving average is $90.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.