Brightwater Advisory LLC Invests $213,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Ameren by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 34,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 8,264 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Ameren by 88.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $237,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Up 0.0 %

Ameren stock opened at $87.48 on Wednesday. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $88.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AEE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group began 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently 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 business.