Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Has $38,000 Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 163.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 319 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,289,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,335,838,000 after acquiring an additional 180,794 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,849,000 after acquiring an additional 156,733 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,764,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,657,000 after acquiring an additional 11,705 shares during the period. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd boosted its holdings in Ameren by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 1,574,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,925,000 after acquiring an additional 223,790 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,519,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,890,000 after acquiring an additional 38,311 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the 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 owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Trading Up 1.1 %

AEE stock traded up $0.75 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,434,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,222. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.92. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $88.72. The stock has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.20.

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.