Stevens Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 5,981 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the transaction, 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. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of AEE traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,201,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,735,562. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.55. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $90.72. The firm has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.40.

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.