Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys New Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 96.7% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on 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 assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.70.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock opened at $70.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.28. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $88.72. 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 (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

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 business.