Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,643 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted 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 valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $233,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,007,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 57,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,048,000 after purchasing an additional 7,112 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $98.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.45. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

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.