Flputnam Investment Management Co. Buys New Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AEE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Ameren by 100,874.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,604,406,000 after acquiring an additional 74,200,015 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,978,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,810,808,000 after purchasing an additional 681,658 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,302,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,187 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,213,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,784,000 after purchasing an additional 72,535 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $72.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $91.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $71.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.49. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

About Ameren

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.