HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,595 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Ameren by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 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, UBS Group upped their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $98.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.93 and its 200 day moving average is $91.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the 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 $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren 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.