Royal Bank of Canada Has $72.86 Million Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 90.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 817,404 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 387,402 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.31% of Ameren worth $72,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. now owns 5,496 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped 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. KeyCorp raised Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.80.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $98.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $98.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.04. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The business's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

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.

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