HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 270 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.89.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $89.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.88 and a 200 day moving average of $82.17. The company has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

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.