Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 2,603 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Ameren by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock worth $1,316,712. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI raised Ameren from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.33.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $99.54 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $26.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.22. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.25%.

Ameren 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.