Kovack Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 63.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,818 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 59.8% in 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 period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 484.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 637,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,733,000 after buying an additional 528,270 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 26.1% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 479,668 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,469,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,950,000 after acquiring an additional 434,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in 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 period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $101.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $101.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. 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 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut Ameren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.70.

Ameren Company 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.