Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 81.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,263 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 245.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after buying an additional 40,202 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at $1,168,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,272,000 after purchasing an additional 36,611 shares during the period. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at $473,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.1% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,637,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,549,000 after purchasing an additional 17,468 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Stock Down 0.3 %

AEE opened at $72.06 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $91.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.43 and a 200-day moving average of $73.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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 transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered Ameren from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. KeyCorp lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.50.

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.