Amalgamated Bank Acquires 638 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Ameren by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on AEE shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.70.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 0.4 %

Ameren stock opened at $99.69 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $100.61. The company has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.51.

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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.63%.

Ameren Company 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.