Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 6,712 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 268.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,712 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 70.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in Ameren by 728.9% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Down 2.0%

Ameren stock opened at $108.38 on Thursday. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $91.77 and a one year high of $112.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.39 and a 200 day moving average of $102.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $29.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.57.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 53.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ameren from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.30.

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.