Keener Financial Planning LLC Purchases New Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 100,874.2% in the fourth 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the first 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 period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the first 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 period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.2% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,213,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,784,000 after purchasing an additional 72,535 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.9 %

AEE stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.99. 1,124,279 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,842,342. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.72. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $91.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Bank of America lowered shares of Ameren from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Ameren from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.11.

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.