Fox Run Management L.L.C. Has $712,000 Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 191.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,253 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 484.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,733,000 after acquiring an additional 528,270 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,469,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,950,000 after purchasing an additional 434,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,134,000 after purchasing an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Ameren Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $98.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly 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 prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.