Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Has $87,000 Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Ameren were worth $87,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ameren by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth $1,115,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $83,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Ameren by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 649,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,866,000 after purchasing an additional 7,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

Ameren Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $98.35 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.68 and a 52-week high of $98.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.17. The stock has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced 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 net margin of 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

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.