Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 393,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $35,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hartree Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,419,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $719,000. Horizon Investment Services LLC grew its position in Ameren by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 18,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 20,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,789,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 80,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of Ameren 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $99.71 on Monday. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $97.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.08.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.70.

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.