Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,294 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.22.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $96.43 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $98.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio 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.