HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 270 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEE. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Ameren by 1.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.89.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $89.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.17. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $95.69.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.