Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,016 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Ameren by 392.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 15,484 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,417,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the second quarter worth $2,632,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 137.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,407,000 after purchasing an additional 57,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 17.7% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 172,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,754,000 after buying an additional 25,898 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $93.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $88.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.29. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $94.46. The company has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was 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 owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.90.

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.