Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stock Holdings Raised by Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. Evercore ISI raised 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays downgraded shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. One research 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.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.70.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value 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 represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Up 2.3 %

Ameren stock opened at $101.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $101.75.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

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.