First Business Financial Services Inc. Makes New Investment in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

First Business Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 11,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 13.5% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.2% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 146,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,837,000 after purchasing an additional 8,573 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.4% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 45,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,996,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.2% during the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $98.77 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.12. The stock has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.40.

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.