Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,588 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Ameren were worth $1,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Ameren by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.33.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's 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 approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Trading Up 0.5 %

AEE stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $98.77. 213,853 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,809,809. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.57 and a 200-day moving average of $93.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. 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 dividend yield of 2.88%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

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.