Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 117.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 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 available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $82.51 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.10 and a 200-day moving average of $74.02. The firm has a market cap of $22.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.44. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $84.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AEE. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

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.