Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,422,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 153,031 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.91% of Ameren worth $215,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 0.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 489,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,849,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Ameren during the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 331,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,019,000 after purchasing an additional 19,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE AEE traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.64. 529,863 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,585,271. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The stock has a market cap of $26.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.33.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). 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 firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AEE. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given 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.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.