Crestline Management LP Has $7.31 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Crestline Management LP lessened its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 44.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 66,617 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $7,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1,732.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 361.9% during the fourth quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 802,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,552,000 after buying an additional 628,925 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AEE opened at $99.65 on Tuesday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.64 and a 200 day moving average of $94.33. The firm has a market cap of $26.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total transaction of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,423.65. This trade represents a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. The trade was a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.56.

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.