Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 2,095 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,095 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ameren were worth $853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Ameren by 115.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ameren during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 227.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.90.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $93.80 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. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $94.46. The firm has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.25.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. The trade was a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.