Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 6,315 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $6,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 20,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Partners LLC now owns 9,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 8,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 75.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 8th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ameren from $99.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 21st. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Ameren from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.75.

Ameren Stock Down 0.5 %

Ameren stock opened at $92.53 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $80.27 and a 12-month high of $99.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.17 and its 200 day moving average is $89.98. The company has a market capitalization of $23.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.51%.

Ameren Profile

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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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