Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 942 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 942 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 117.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Ameren during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEE. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.80.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $87.80 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.99. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $89.54. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ameren

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.