The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 611,911 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,968 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.23% of Ameren worth $54,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Ameren by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $210,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 361.9% during the fourth quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 802,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,552,000 after acquiring an additional 628,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:AEE traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $99.82. 180,028 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,583,711. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $98.64 and its 200-day moving average is $94.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Ameren's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.89.

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.