Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 27.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,095 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ameren were worth $853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the first quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Ameren by 183.4% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 7,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 4,946 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.2 %

AEE stock opened at $93.80 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $88.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.25. The stock has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $94.46.

Ameren Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 1,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.94, for a total transaction of $131,923.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,640,758.08. This trade represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. 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 objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.90.

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.