JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,095,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,857 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.41% of Ameren worth $97,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $437,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Ameren by 4.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 43,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,379 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Ameren by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after buying an additional 39,300 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.3 %

Ameren stock opened at $100.93 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $98.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.38. 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 firm has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

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.