GAMMA Investing LLC Buys Shares of 2,172 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $151,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 124.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 64.9% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 46.7% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $73.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $90.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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 price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on 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 set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

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.