WFA of San Diego LLC Invests $62,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $62,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Colony Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 3,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 7,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 35.9% in the 1st 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. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 77.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 0.4 %

Ameren stock opened at $76.82 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.75. The company has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.71 and a 52-week high of $92.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 14.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 12th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.27%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total transaction of $250,696.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 198,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,373,851.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total transaction of $251,232.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 161,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,849,813.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.28, for a total value of $250,696.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 198,937 shares in the company, valued at $15,373,851.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ameren from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Ameren from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Ameren from $91.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four 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 price target of $86.89.

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 and transmission businesses.