GAMMA Investing LLC Has $510,000 Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 31.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ameren by 115.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Ameren during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren by 117.6% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.70.

Ameren Price Performance

Ameren stock opened at $86.44 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a one year low of $67.03 and a one year high of $88.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.55 and its 200 day moving average is $76.70. The firm has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

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.