Tectonic Advisors LLC Buys 285 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,092,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,447,516,000 after acquiring an additional 802,714 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Ameren by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593,638 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 204.3% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,877,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,836,000 after buying an additional 23,967 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 106.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,644,000 after buying an additional 1,286,162 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $131,923.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of AEE stock opened at $87.80 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $89.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $85.25 and a 200-day moving average of $77.89. The company has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group began coverage on Ameren in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.80.

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.