Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth 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. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Ameren by 86.2% in 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. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $97.44 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $98.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.