Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 38,939 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,939 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $172,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 in the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $100.66 on Wednesday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.70.

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.