Czech National Bank Increases Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $174,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $254,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $86.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.83. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $67.03 and a 52-week high of $88.11.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.70.

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.