Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 63.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,818 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,417,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC purchased a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ameren by 51.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after buying an additional 362,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 265.0% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after buying an additional 126,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.70.

Ameren Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $101.74 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $69.39 and a one year high of $101.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.66. 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 stock has a market cap of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 60.63%.

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.