Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Purchased by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 83.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,592 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $190,250,000 after purchasing an additional 926,126 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Ameren by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,858 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 12,956 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 193,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,205,000 after purchasing an additional 24,766 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Ameren by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $410,174,000 after purchasing an additional 39,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in Ameren by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 401,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,780,000 after purchasing an additional 153,117 shares in the last quarter. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 report 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.80.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $98.51. 1,236,040 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,567,890. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The company has a market capitalization of $26.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $98.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.01. 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 (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. Ameren's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.88%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.