Caprock Group LLC Takes Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in Ameren by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 20,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of Ameren stock 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 stock has a market capitalization 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $88.03 and a 200 day moving average of $80.34. Ameren Co. has a 12 month low of $67.03 and a 12 month high of $94.46.

Ameren Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.