Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 290.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,087 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Ameren by 2.0% during 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. lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Ameren by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $95.88 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AEE. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.