Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 9,966.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 518,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 513,572 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.19% of Ameren worth $51,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 285.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 6,040.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.45.

Ameren Trading Up 0.7%

AEE stock opened at $107.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $91.77 and a 1-year high of $113.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.99. The company has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s payout ratio is currently 56.07%.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.