15,862 Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Purchased by Kentucky Trust Co

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,414,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,417,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ameren by 51.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,198,000 after buying an additional 126,157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $98.19 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $91.57 and a 200 day moving average of $87.97. The company has a market capitalization of $26.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $98.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

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.