EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 221 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $59,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AEE. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’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 approximately $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $100.13 on Thursday. 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 $27.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.28. 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 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 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.