Boothbay Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AEE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings 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 stake in shares of Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,157,000 after purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

AEE traded up $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.83. The company had a trading volume of 146,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,583,591. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.33. The stock has a market cap of $26.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.89.

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.