International Assets Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 8,645.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 1,147,723 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Ameren worth $1,015,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 493.0% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 18,064 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 703.6% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 129,346 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,566,000 after buying an additional 113,250 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ameren by 392.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 15,484 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Ameren by 137.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,407,000 after buying an additional 57,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,632,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho raised Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.80.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE traded down $0.21 on Thursday, reaching $88.99. 945,341 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,591,529. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $89.54. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $85.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company'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 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.63%.

Ameren 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.