Virtu Financial LLC Buys 488 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Ameren by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AEE. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Ameren Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $99.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.97.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.