Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Purchased by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 6.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth about $320,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 21.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction 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 $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.40.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $99.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.