Huntington National Bank Has $631,000 Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total transaction of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This represents a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Ameren Trading Down 5.7 %

NYSE AEE opened at $95.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.51. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 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 business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend yield of 2.96%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.