Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 1,680.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,668 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,462 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during 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 during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $317,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,315,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at $19,367,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four equities 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.33.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock traded down $0.51 on Thursday, hitting $98.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 322,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,582,828. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.03.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

Ameren Company 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.