Krilogy Financial LLC Has $8.05 Million Stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Krilogy Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,211 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 2,659 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $8,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,411,125,000 after buying an additional 392,170 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,157,000 after buying an additional 77,282 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $410,174,000 after purchasing an additional 39,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Down 1.7%

AEE stock traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,349,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,089. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The stock has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $97.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.66.

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

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 62.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $114.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.00.

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.