Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $3.02 Million Holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ameren Corporation by 35.6% during Q1, owning a total of 30,114 shares valued at approximately $3 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on AEE, with ratings including upgrades from Goldman Sachs and UBS, while Barclays and Morgan Stanley lowered their price targets, leading to an average target price of $101.36.
• Ameren recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, reflecting a 2.85% dividend yield and a payout ratio of roughly 63%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 35.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,906 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Ameren by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $273,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901,047 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.7% in 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 period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,181,000 after buying an additional 1,266,051 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $190,250,000 after buying an additional 926,126 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $99.98. 2,111,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,748,119. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $78.81 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.45 and a 200 day moving average of $97.09. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AEE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.36.

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.