Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stake in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,324 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Ameren were worth $12,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at $241,496,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,445,138,000 after purchasing an additional 979,928 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,250,000 after purchasing an additional 926,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 11,913.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,500,000 after buying an additional 795,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $100.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $81.31 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.93.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.36.

About Ameren

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.