Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $545,000 in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 117.6% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $84.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.28. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $85.83.

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

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group began coverage on Ameren in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total value of $131,923.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren 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.