Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Purchases 1,478 Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Ameren worth $14,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.64.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $95.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.76. Ameren Corporation has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 62.97%.

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.