Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Makes New $499,000 Investment in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,595 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,411,125,000 after purchasing an additional 392,170 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,518,835,000 after acquiring an additional 2,439,811 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $600,157,000 after acquiring an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $98.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,537,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,587,579. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. 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 one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.07. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. 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 2.90%. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AEE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.33.

Ameren Company 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.