Woodline Partners LP Buys Shares of 16,030 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 16,030 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,429,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Ameren by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,315,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,367,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 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 firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $96.40. 209,907 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,557,687. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $97.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.36. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for 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 was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.90.

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.