Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Bought by Prosperitas Financial LLC

Prosperitas Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,398 shares during the quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 218.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 144,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,822. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $91.18. The stock has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.33%.

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.