Avitas Wealth Management LLC Buys 360 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 360 shares during the quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Colony Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.9% in the second quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 2,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Ameren from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 324,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,595. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.91. The stock has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $91.18.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.33%.

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.