WR Wealth Planners LLC Has $88,000 Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

WR Wealth Planners LLC lessened its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 58.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,391 shares during the quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.2% in the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 1.7% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the 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 $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $101.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $101.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.93 and its 200 day moving average is $89.72. 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 issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

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.