Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 223,078 Shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,692,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 223,078 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.63% of Ameren worth $169,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,682 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,913,000 after buying an additional 5,595 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 667 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 120,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,713,000 after buying an additional 2,938 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 55,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,988,000 after buying an additional 14,643 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 600.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,303 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 a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $114.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.36.

Ameren Stock Up 1.4%

AEE stock traded up $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.64. 1,383,383 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,591,193. Ameren Corporation has a 52 week low of $74.87 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $96.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.