Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Acquired by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 62.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,643 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.6% during the second quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Ameren by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Ameren by 52.8% during the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.33.

Ameren Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $86.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $87.10. The company has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.79.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by 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.