Duality Advisers LP Invests $1.76 Million in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 24,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Ameren by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its position in Ameren by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 3,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its stake in Ameren by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 8,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 46.7% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $74.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.53. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $91.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.33%.

About Ameren

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.