Edge Financial Advisors LLC Invests $243,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Edge Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,447,516,000 after buying an additional 802,714 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ameren by 25.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,696,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in Ameren by 204.3% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569,897 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,877,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,836,000 after purchasing an additional 23,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 106.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after buying an additional 1,286,162 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. UBS Group began coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.80.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2 %

AEE traded up $0.15 on Wednesday, reaching $86.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 29,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,573,750. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $89.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.55 and its 200 day moving average is $78.28. The stock has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

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.