12,410 Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Purchased by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Ameren by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,315,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,367,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AEE. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.22.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 0.5 %

AEE stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $98.78. 188,397 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,584,088. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $98.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.87.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

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.