Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Increases Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after buying an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Ameren by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 39,300 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,696,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,256,000 after acquiring an additional 43,289 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 42.1% in 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 in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $100.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.38. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents 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 valued at $1,316,712. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.