Hartree Partners LP Invests $3.42 Million in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Hartree Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 38,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,419,000. Ameren makes up about 1.3% of Hartree Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ameren by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after acquiring an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,992,000 after buying an additional 39,300 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Ameren by 26.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,779,000 after buying an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $99.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.