Martingale Asset Management L P Boosts Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in Ameren by 350.7% in Q3, adding 115,526 shares to own 148,464 shares valued at about $15.5 million (≈0.05% of the company).
• Ameren raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (from $0.71), payable March 31, which annualizes to $3.00 and implies roughly a 2.7% yield.
• Wall Street’s consensus rating for Ameren is a Hold with a consensus price target of $113.30, amid analyst views ranging from Strong Buy to Sell.

Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 350.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 115,526 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned about 0.05% of Ameren worth $15,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 22.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 19.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Ameren by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,289,000 after buying an additional 6,772 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 9.5% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AEE. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Argus upgraded Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.30.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $109.98 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $106.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.41. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $91.77 and a twelve month high of $113.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.07%.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation NYSE: AEE is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren's core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AEE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.