Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $7,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Ameren by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 30,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,682,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 77.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Ameren by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 129,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,346,000 after purchasing an additional 8,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $98.01 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $68.60 and a 1 year high of $100.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $92.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.51. The firm has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 15.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AEE. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

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.