BCK Partners Inc. Invests $277,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ameren by 3.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Ameren by 64.6% during the first quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 1.0% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 1.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Ameren by 36.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.06% of the company’s stock.

In related news, insider Mark C. Birk sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.90, for a total transaction of $375,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,541 shares in the company, valued at $7,562,799.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 2,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.32, for a total transaction of $250,691.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 148,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,113,079.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, April 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 3rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Ameren from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $94.00 to $96.00 in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.43.

NYSE:AEE opened at $90.69 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.34. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $79.85 and a twelve month high of $99.20.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 8th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 7th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.51%.

About Ameren (Get Rating)

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. The company engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution and transmission businesses.

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