Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Has $338,000 Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ameren by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,149,221,000 after buying an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,661,000 after acquiring an additional 127,287 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 26.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,318,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,779,000 after purchasing an additional 479,668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $97.05 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.83. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $97.99. The company has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.06%.

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.