Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Invests $10.90 Million in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 122,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,901,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shawn E. Schukar sold 4,743 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.79, for a total value of $492,275.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,966,471.94. This represents a 7.62% 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, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total transaction of $557,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. This trade represents a 11.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE AEE traded up $0.65 on Friday, hitting $96.82. 2,370,624 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,564,119. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.51. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is 62.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.90.

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.