Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 3,738.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 745,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 726,438 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.28% of Ameren worth $65,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 117.6% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Argus upgraded Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.80.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Ameren
In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $88.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.09 and a 200 day moving average of $77.82. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $89.54. The stock has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45.
Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The business's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.
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.
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