Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 7,908 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,908 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AEE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 100,874.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,604,406,000 after acquiring an additional 74,200,015 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,051,453,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200,700 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ameren by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,302,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,187 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 7,133.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,670,000 after acquiring an additional 947,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,978,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,810,808,000 after acquiring an additional 681,658 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $73.88 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.52. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $91.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 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 announced 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 business had revenue of $1.62 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. 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 yield of 3.63%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.