Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.70.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $98.28 on Wednesday. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.31 and a 1 year high of $100.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 60.63%.

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.