Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Increases Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 21.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Ameren by 25.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,931,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,696,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,593,638 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in Ameren by 204.3% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 3,827,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $283,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569,897 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 106.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $177,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,162 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 8,645.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,160,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,410,000 after buying an additional 1,147,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ameren by 3,738.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 745,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,234,000 after acquiring an additional 726,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ameren from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.80.

Ameren Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $92.09 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.93. The firm has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.45. Ameren Co. has a 1 year low of $67.03 and a 1 year high of $92.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,640,758.08. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.