Wells Fargo & Company MN Acquires 2,901,047 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1,732.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Ameren were worth $273,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $95.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.57.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 2.96%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

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.