GAMMA Investing LLC Has $315,000 Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 39.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ameren by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,447,516,000 after buying an additional 802,714 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 25.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,696,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,849,000 after acquiring an additional 156,733 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in Ameren by 204.3% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after buying an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,877,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,836,000 after buying an additional 23,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE traded down $2.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $80.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,708,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,690,598. The company has a market cap of $21.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.00 and a 200 day moving average of $72.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.59. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $84.40.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Ameren in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.50.

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.