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

Plancorp LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 22.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 41,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,614,000 after acquiring an additional 5,016 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,007,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEE. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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 note on Friday. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Down 1.1 %

AEE stock opened at $98.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 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 company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 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 is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 quarter, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 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.