Lindbrook Capital LLC Buys 346 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 124.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $45,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 20,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 5.3% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 3,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 8,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its stake in Ameren by 46.7% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the company’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 $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at $3,385,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $74.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $90.80. The firm has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 15.36%. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays cut their target price on Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.40.

Ameren 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.