Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC Acquires 785 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 245.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after buying an additional 40,202 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 898,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,007,000 after purchasing an additional 12,431 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter worth $1,168,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 5,112,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,849,000 after buying an additional 156,733 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Ameren by 83.9% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 264,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,158,000 after acquiring an additional 120,849 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $106,935.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ameren news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,318,410.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $70.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.59. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $88.72.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

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.