Invesco Ltd. Purchases 646,000 Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Ameren Corporation by 16.1% during the first quarter, owning approximately 4.66 million shares valued at $467 million.
• Ameren's stock has received mixed ratings, with several analysts adjusting target prices; the current consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $101.36.
• For the most recent quarter, Ameren reported earnings of $1.01 per share, beating estimates, with revenue of $2.22 billion—a 31.2% increase from the prior year.

Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 16.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,658,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 646,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.72% of Ameren worth $467,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $204,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $897,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,699,000 after buying an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,552,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $100.55. The stock had a trading volume of 525,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,520. 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 52 week low of $81.31 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.78.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.36.

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.