Prudential Financial Inc. Has $17.40 Million Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 195,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,124 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Ameren worth $17,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $98.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.87. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.