Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 9,449 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,449 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Ameren were worth $6,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 392.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 15,484 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,417,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,632,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Ameren by 137.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 100,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,407,000 after purchasing an additional 57,923 shares during the period. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,682,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. Bank of America raised 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ameren from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameren from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus raised Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.78.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $94.39 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.03. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69. The company has a market cap of $25.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.