IFP Advisors Inc Buys 9,124 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 1,652.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,124 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Ameren by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 22,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,395,000 after buying an additional 7,143 shares in the last quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. now owns 8,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 34,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter worth $3,914,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AEE. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Ameren in a report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $106.80 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.94. The stock has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $91.77 and a 12 month high of $113.93.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 56.07%.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.