TD Asset Management Inc Increases Position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Ameren Corporation by 2.4% in Q1, owning 112,183 shares worth $11.26 million.
• Ameren recently reported Q1 earnings of $1.07 per share, slightly missing analysts' estimates, while revenue rose 15.5% year-over-year to $2.10 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share with a dividend yield of 2.84%, indicating a payout ratio of 62.97%.

TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,675 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc's holdings in Ameren were worth $11,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $2,411,125,000 after purchasing an additional 392,170 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 1.2% during the 4th 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 lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th 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 lifted its position in Ameren by 0.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 39,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE traded up $1.02 on Friday, hitting $102.15. 2,178,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,470,185. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business's fifty day moving average is $96.75 and its 200 day moving average is $97.29. Ameren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $78.91 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Five equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.