AGF Management Ltd. Acquires New Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 33,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Ameren by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $83.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $85.57. 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’s 50 day moving average is $79.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.97.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for 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%. Ameren’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AEE. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Ameren Company 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.