Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Free Report) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Ameren in the first quarter worth $27,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in Ameren by 138.1% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Ameren by 35.9% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 77.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. StockNews.com upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 16th. 888 reissued an “upgrade” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.78.
Ameren Price Performance
AEE stock opened at $80.21 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $73.28 and a 12-month high of $92.43.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.50% and a net margin of 13.65%. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.
Ameren Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 59.02%.
Insider Activity at Ameren
In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total value of $251,232.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 161,369 shares in the company, valued at $12,849,813.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
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 and transmission businesses.
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