Allworth Financial LP Purchases 23,096 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 380.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,096 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 8,645.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,723 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 3,738.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,234,000 after acquiring an additional 726,438 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 484.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,733,000 after acquiring an additional 528,270 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Ameren by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,779,000 after acquiring an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.3 %

AEE stock opened at $98.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $92.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.51. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.60 and a fifty-two week high of $100.62.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.52%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 63.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

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.