RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $696,000 Investment in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $600,157,000 after acquiring an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Ameren by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE opened at $100.66 on Wednesday. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $97.86 and its 200-day moving average is $92.32. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. 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. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AEE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $266,901.32. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. Company 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.