Ethic Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,647 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Ethic Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Ameren by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 178,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,882,000 after acquiring an additional 25,937 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Ameren by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 798,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,148,000 after acquiring an additional 294,512 shares during the last quarter. DC Investments Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth $742,000. Dean Capital Management boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 23,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $901,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $96.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.73.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 62.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AEE. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.80.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company’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 value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.