Prudent Investors Network Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Prudent Investors Network Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in Ameren by 0.6% in the second quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Ameren by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.80.

Ameren Stock Up 0.1 %

AEE opened at $87.78 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $89.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $86.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.85.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.