Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Invests $97,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of 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. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Ameren in the third quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Ameren in the third quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $98.28 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.31 and a 12-month high of $100.61. The firm has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results 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 10.09% and a net margin of 15.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. Barclays lowered shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.70.

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.