The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 46,118 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 631,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,118 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Ameren were worth $44,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.5% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 52.8% during the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $86.49 on Monday. The firm 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $82.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.