Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 40.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $1,115,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Ameren by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 649,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,866,000 after acquiring an additional 7,927 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 15,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 4,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $98.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.17. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.68 and a 52 week high of $98.69.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 15.52% and a return on equity of 10.09%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.