Fox Hill Wealth Management Buys 1,679 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Fox Hill Wealth Management grew its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,679 shares during the period. Fox Hill Wealth Management’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 7,133.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,670,000 after purchasing an additional 947,011 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $60,445,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 30.4% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,286,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $171,081,000 after buying an additional 532,800 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 1,770.6% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 355,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,596,000 after purchasing an additional 336,416 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd increased its holdings in Ameren by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 1,574,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,925,000 after purchasing an additional 223,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total transaction of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,318,410.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AEE traded up $0.17 on Friday, reaching $71.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,596,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,481,259. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $88.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.68 and a 200-day moving average of $72.01.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.08). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ameren from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.20.

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.