BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $44.35 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 497,507 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 112,054 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.19% of Ameren worth $44,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,048,000. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 64,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,741,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $298,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 91,598 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,165,000 after buying an additional 7,218 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AEE. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.89.

Ameren Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:AEE traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $97.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,295,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,579,743. The firm has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business's 50-day moving average price is $98.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.58. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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.