Citigroup Inc. Increases Stake in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 307,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,220 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.11% of Ameren worth $32,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 42.2% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after acquiring an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 12.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,868,000 after acquiring an additional 12,213 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Ameren by 5.1% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.30.

Ameren Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $111.45 on Thursday. 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 $112.65. The firm has a market cap of $30.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.65.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Company Profile

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.