MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AEE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,007,000 after acquiring an additional 12,431 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 493.0% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 18,064 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,849,000 after acquiring an additional 156,733 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 703.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 129,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 113,250 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 392.0% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 15,484 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Ameren Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $85.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $85.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.43.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.