Ameren Corporation $AEE Stock Holdings Lifted by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 54.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,444 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 70.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 728.9% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $109.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $102.64 and its 200-day moving average is $102.40. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $91.77 and a 52-week high of $112.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ameren from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Profile

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.