Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Stake Boosted by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank grew its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,115 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Ameren were worth $6,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its stake in shares of Ameren by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Ameren from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 target price on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.00.

Ameren Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AEE stock traded down $0.51 on Thursday, hitting $95.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,288,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,563,238. The stock's 50 day moving average is $97.59 and its 200-day moving average is $95.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Co. has a 52-week low of $69.39 and a 52-week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.