Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Position Raised by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 52,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,182 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $5,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,315,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 380.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 29,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,723,000 after purchasing an additional 23,096 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AEE. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 target price on Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.00.

Ameren Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AEE opened at $94.42 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $97.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $69.39 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. 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 posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

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.

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