DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Increases Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,990 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 218.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI downgraded Ameren from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.50.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $71.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $91.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $71.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The business 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 firm posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.