Naples Money Management LLC Makes New Investment in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $123,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 100,874.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,604,406,000 after purchasing an additional 74,200,015 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,700 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,302,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,187 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 7,133.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,670,000 after purchasing an additional 947,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,978,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,810,808,000 after purchasing an additional 681,658 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AEE traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,266,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,078. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $91.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

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.