Venturi Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 164.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 973 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $98.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $100.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $92.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.99.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.70.

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.