QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,411,125,000 after buying an additional 392,170 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% during 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 buying an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.80.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AEE traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $94.57. 2,508,040 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,570,691. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.70. The company has a market cap of $25.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, 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 data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is 62.97%.

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.