Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stock Position Raised by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,939,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,939 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.73% of Ameren worth $172,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Ameren by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. This represents a 15.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.70.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $100.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.32. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $69.39 and a twelve month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued 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 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 64.25%.

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.