Quarry LP Raises Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 595.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Quarry LP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Ameren in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position 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. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.33.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $87.48 on Wednesday. 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 $88.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $82.61 and its 200 day moving average is $76.16. The company has a market cap of $23.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

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.