Mariner LLC Increases Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Mariner LLC boosted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 33.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,294 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $3,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,488,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company has a market capitalization of $26.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $98.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.76.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AEE. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.22.

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.