Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Stake Lifted by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its position in Ameren Corporation shares by 5.8%, holding 68,875 shares worth approximately $6.9 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have varying outlooks on Ameren, with target prices ranging from $100 to $114, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.36.
• Ameren recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.84%, with a payout ratio of 62.97%.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,875 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,756 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Ameren were worth $6,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 3.3% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Ameren by 2.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 112,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,263,000 after buying an additional 2,675 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 5.1% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 35.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 30,114 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,023,000 after buying an additional 7,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 21.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 72,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,290,000 after purchasing an additional 13,019 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. 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. 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 note on Friday, July 11th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.36.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,178,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,470,185. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $78.91 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The firm has a market cap of $27.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $96.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.29.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company 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%. Ameren's revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren's dividend 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.