Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,417,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the third quarter worth $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 265.0% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after acquiring an additional 126,157 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $101.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $93.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.72. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $101.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 64.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren 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.