EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 106.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 8,645.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,723 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Ameren by 3,738.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,234,000 after buying an additional 726,438 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 192.6% during the second quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,103,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,475,000 after buying an additional 726,404 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $89.84 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.17. The company has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $95.69.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AEE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upgraded 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.89.

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.