Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $664,000 Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 370.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,351 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Ameren were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Ameren by 2.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 1.5% during the first quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock remained flat at $83.74 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 76,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,623,943. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.42. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $84.60. The company has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AEE. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Ameren 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.