Stack Financial Management Inc Purchases New Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Stack Financial Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 158,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,000. Stack Financial Management Inc owned about 0.06% of Ameren at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ameren by 7,133.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,670,000 after purchasing an additional 947,011 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,289,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,512,000 after acquiring an additional 660,654 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $171,081,000 after purchasing an additional 532,800 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 1,770.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 355,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,596,000 after purchasing an additional 336,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 180.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 521,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,037,000 after buying an additional 335,398 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.29. 275,275 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,723,886. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.55. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $90.72. 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 firm has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted 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). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

About Ameren

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.