Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 331,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,217 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Ameren worth $29,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,676 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 14.0% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Ameren by 4.6% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 18,064 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 311,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $23,055,000 after purchasing an additional 15,269 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Argus raised shares of 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.80.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $91.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,735,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,797. The stock's 50 day moving average is $86.72 and its 200 day moving average is $79.34. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $92.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.45. 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Company 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.