Polymer Capital Management US LLC Purchases New Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 30,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,674,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ameren by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 174,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 63,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at about $317,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $95.88 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $98.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.62. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.