Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $410.17 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 39,455 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 1.72% of Ameren worth $410,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 361.9% during the fourth quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 802,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,552,000 after acquiring an additional 628,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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

Ameren Trading Up 1.9%

Ameren stock traded up $1.79 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $96.80. 1,659,488 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,582,824. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AEE. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.80.

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.