Aigen Investment Management LP Invests $532,000 in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP has acquired a new position in Ameren Corporation, buying 5,301 shares valued at approximately $532,000 during the first quarter.
• A number of other institutional investors, including King Luther Capital Management and Virtu Financial LLC, have also increased their stakes in Ameren, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $101.36 for Ameren, with ratings ranging from "hold" to "strong buy" from various financial institutions.

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,301 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEE. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $897,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,699,000 after buying an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,552,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.36.

Ameren Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AEE traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.60. 1,905,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,438,296. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.80. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $81.31 and a twelve month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The business's revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.42%.

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.