BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Makes New Investment in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 12,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position 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 period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Ameren by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 361.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,469,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,950,000 after acquiring an additional 434,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $99.17 on Wednesday. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $26.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 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 in the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.22.

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.