Prosperitas Financial LLC Raises Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Prosperitas Financial LLC lifted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,632 shares during the quarter. Ameren makes up 1.5% of Prosperitas Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Prosperitas Financial LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ameren by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Ameren by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 345,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,548,000 after purchasing an additional 80,599 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ameren by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.1% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.4 %

AEE stock opened at $85.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.55. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $89.54.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 60.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.80.

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.