The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 46,118 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 631,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,118 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.24% of Ameren worth $44,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew 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 acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price 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 research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.33.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $86.49 on Monday. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.93. The stock 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.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued 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 61.61%.

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.