Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stock Position Lifted by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 126.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,417 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in Ameren by 64.9% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its position in Ameren by 46.7% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction 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 transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $74.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $91.18. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.53.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 61.33%.

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.