Voleon Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 3,345 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,345 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 7.1% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Ameren by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.89.

Ameren Stock Down 0.0 %

Ameren stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $99.55. The company had a trading volume of 599,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,956. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's fifty day moving average is $98.64 and its 200-day moving average is $94.33.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. Ameren's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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.