First Business Financial Services Inc. Takes $994,000 Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

First Business Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,417,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC bought a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,682,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ameren by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,064,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,134,000 after acquiring an additional 362,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 173,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,198,000 after acquiring an additional 126,157 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 1.2 %

AEE opened at $98.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. 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 moving average of $94.55 and a 200-day moving average of $90.12. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its 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 net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at $5,966,471.94. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712 in the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on 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 Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.40.

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.