Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Takes $31,000 Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $524,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 12.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Ameren by 137.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,407,000 after buying an additional 57,923 shares during the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 162,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,032,000 after acquiring an additional 45,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Ameren by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 15,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ameren from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.91.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE traded up $1.27 on Friday, reaching $82.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,132,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,307,366. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $85.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $22.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.33.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares in the company, valued at $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were 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. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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 business.