Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 232 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Ameren during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $98.77 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.12. 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 company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS 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 dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective 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 given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.40.

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.