Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 284,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 49,864 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $20,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in Ameren by 64.9% during the 3rd 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. CNB Bank raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 93.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AEE. 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 research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Down 1.5 %

AEE 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. The firm 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. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $90.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.36.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 61.61%.

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.