1,700 Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Acquired by Naples Money Management LLC

Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $123,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 100,874.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,604,406,000 after purchasing an additional 74,200,015 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,978,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,810,808,000 after purchasing an additional 681,658 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,302,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,187 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,213,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,784,000 after acquiring an additional 72,535 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 1.9 %

Ameren stock traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.88. 1,266,251 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,772,078. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $91.18. The firm has a market cap of $19.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

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.