Raymond James & Associates Has $8.62 Million Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,520 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Ameren were worth $8,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,447,516,000 after buying an additional 802,714 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after buying an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,849,000 after buying an additional 156,733 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP increased its holdings in Ameren by 204.3% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,111,000 after buying an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 0.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,877,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,836,000 after acquiring an additional 23,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE opened at $82.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.72. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $84.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upgraded Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.10.

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.