Cigna Investments Inc. New Purchases Shares of 2,717 Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $243,000. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 20,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 112,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 17,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $85.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1-year low of $67.03 and a 1-year high of $89.54. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $85.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 16.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Co. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.