Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 30,511 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,653,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,511 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $144,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Ameren by 115.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the first quarter worth about $31,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 108.1% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 227.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AEE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.90.

Ameren Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $93.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.34. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $94.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

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.