Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 1,266,051 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 116.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.88% of Ameren worth $210,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 4,014 shares during the period. Hartree Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth about $3,419,000. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $719,000. Horizon Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 18,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 20,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AEE shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.70.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $100.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $97.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the 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 owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.