FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,978,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,810,808,000 after acquiring an additional 681,658 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,753,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,847,293,000 after purchasing an additional 786,490 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,302,326,000 after buying an additional 1,029,187 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,546,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $493,699,000 after buying an additional 662,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 493.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,654,972 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $436,452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,870,393 shares during the period. 77.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $84.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $80.34 and a 12 month high of $99.20. The stock has a market cap of $21.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.73.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 7th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 6th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 60.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AEE. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ameren from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on Ameren from $99.00 to $91.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 9th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ameren from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $96.00 in a report on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.13.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, Chairman Warner L. Baxter sold 54,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.19, for a total transaction of $5,032,260.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 267,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,964,948.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ameren news, Chairman Warner L. Baxter sold 54,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.19, for a total transaction of $5,032,260.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 267,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,964,948.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,600 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $153,712.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,080.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ameren Profile

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Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. The company engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution and transmission businesses.

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