Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 268.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,712 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 70.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 6,040.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 728.9% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 49.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of AEE opened at $108.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $102.39 and its 200 day moving average is $102.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $91.77 and a fifty-two week high of $112.65.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 53.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.30.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.