Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ameren by 25.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Ameren by 204.3% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after buying an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $177,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,147,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,447,516,000 after purchasing an additional 802,714 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.80.

Ameren Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $91.22 on Monday. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $92.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were 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 owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.