Financial Counselors Inc. Has $1.58 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 184,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 195,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,401,000 after acquiring an additional 20,124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $98.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.