Savant Capital LLC Has $472,000 Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 3.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,824,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,379,000 after purchasing an additional 101,023 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Ameren by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,430,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,867,000 after buying an additional 29,921 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in 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 valued at $171,081,000 after buying an additional 532,800 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Ameren by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,764,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,657,000 after acquiring an additional 11,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.1% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,637,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,549,000 after acquiring an additional 17,468 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 1.5 %

AEE stock opened at $74.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $90.72. The company has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.75 and a 200-day moving average of $73.36.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the 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 owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’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 $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.