Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $549,000 Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 860 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.6% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Brady Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 138.0% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 2,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.80.

Insider Activity

In related 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 owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $88.23 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.63. 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 fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $89.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Ameren 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.