Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in Ameren by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 3,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in Ameren by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 8,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. CNB Bank grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 46.7% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AEE. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.40.

Ameren Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $74.35 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.47. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $90.72. 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 stock has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 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 $115,241.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Company 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.