LongView Wealth Management Takes Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

LongView Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keeler & Nadler Financial Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Ameren by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 31,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Ameren by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 54,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,754,000 after buying an additional 3,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $86.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.94. The company has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $88.11.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 16.28% and a return on equity of 10.20%. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho raised shares of 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 research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.70.

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.