Toronto Dominion Bank Has $9.63 Million Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 61.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 135,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,669 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $9,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its holdings in Ameren by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.4% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Ameren by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was 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 owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AEE opened at $86.49 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $87.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $81.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.79. 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 cap of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.33.

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.