Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Purchased by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $100.93 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.38. The company has a market capitalization of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

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.