Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 290.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,087 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after acquiring an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,157,000 after purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 116.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $172,907,000 after buying an additional 38,939 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $95.88 on Monday. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.62. The company has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. 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 2.96%. 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.