Point72 Asset Management L.P. Buys New Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 173,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,162,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.06% of Ameren at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth $7,720,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the third quarter worth about $223,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.7% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 8,895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 168,242 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,714,000 after purchasing an additional 56,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AEE shares. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays increased their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.00.

Ameren Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Ameren stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $91.79. The company had a trading volume of 725,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,432,195. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.55. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69. The firm has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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.