Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Has $7.95 Million Holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,403 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's holdings in Ameren were worth $7,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth about $4,180,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $461,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 104,561 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,321,000 after buying an additional 9,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,954 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 note on Wednesday, June 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.64.

Ameren Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE AEE traded down $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.86. 637,604 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,571,373. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.19 and a fifty-two week 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. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $96.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.09.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business'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 business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is 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.