Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Stake in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 98.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,922 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,050,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Ameren by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,787,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $186,556,000 after acquiring an additional 79,763 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,097,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 255,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the second quarter valued at about $13,305,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $107.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $91.77 and a 1 year high of $113.93.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 56.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.45.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.