Morton Community Bank Invests $347,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Morton Community Bank purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 13.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 331,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,019,000 after purchasing an additional 19,217 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth about $408,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its position in Ameren by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 10,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.40.

Ameren Stock Up 1.5 %

Ameren stock opened at $98.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.39.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.