Brightwater Advisory LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Brightwater Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ameren by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 117.6% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.33.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $87.48 on Wednesday. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $88.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.16. The firm has a market cap of $23.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.45. 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 (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.