NEOS Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,483 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after buying an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after acquiring an additional 127,287 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after acquiring an additional 39,300 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $99.71 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.02. The company has a market capitalization of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.85%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AEE. UBS Group increased 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, March 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

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.