Ethic Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,647 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Ethic Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Ameren by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 178,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,882,000 after acquiring an additional 25,937 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Ameren by 58.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 798,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,148,000 after acquiring an additional 294,512 shares during the last quarter. DC Investments Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $742,000. Dean Capital Management grew its position in Ameren by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 23,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Ameren by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $96.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.19 and a 200 day moving average of $94.73. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 62.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased 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. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.