Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $145,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $145,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 218.2% in the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in Ameren during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 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 transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 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 approximately $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $115,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AEE. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.40.

Ameren Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AEE traded up $1.37 on Friday, hitting $73.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,266,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,909. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $19.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $91.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.33%.

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.