Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Purchased by Plancorp LLC

Plancorp LLC boosted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 484.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,733,000 after purchasing an additional 528,270 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Ameren by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,469,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,950,000 after purchasing an additional 434,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ameren by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $98.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.45. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.70.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 11.26 % 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.