Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Purchases 10,293 Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,293 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Ameren worth $15,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.5% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 392,170 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 16.7% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 39,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Ameren stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.33. 2,259,868 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,580,405. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $70.15 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.78.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Ameren's payout ratio is 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.64.

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.