11,583 Shares in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Acquired by Qsemble Capital Management LP

Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $824,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 208.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 180,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,810,000 after purchasing an additional 121,751 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ameren in the second quarter worth approximately $2,348,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 7.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 35,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 147.6% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 9,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 5,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Hill Wealth Management boosted its stake in Ameren by 6.1% in the second quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 18,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at $3,640,758.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $83.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.43 and a 200 day moving average of $74.88. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $67.03 and a 52 week high of $85.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.