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

IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 1,652.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,124 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Ameren by 19.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Ameren by 42.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Ameren during the second quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Ameren by 8.6% during the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 817,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,542,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $106.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $91.77 and a 1 year high of $113.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.68 and a 200-day moving average of $103.94.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded Ameren from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Profile

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.