Jones Financial Companies Lllp Has $3.28 Million Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 26.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $98.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.12.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 stock was 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 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AEE. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.40.

Ameren 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.