Modern Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Ameren by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Ameren by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.7% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $98.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.82. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AEE. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their target price 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.