Tradewinds LLC. Takes $437,000 Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Ameren by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE opened at $100.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $97.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.32. 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.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AEE. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

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.