Keybank National Association OH Lowers Position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Keybank National Association OH lowered its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,691 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,558 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH's holdings in Ameren were worth $12,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $114.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.64.

Ameren Trading Down 0.7%

AEE stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.86. The company had a trading volume of 637,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,571,373. The stock has a market cap of $25.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Corporation has a 52 week low of $70.19 and a 52 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $96.52 and its 200 day moving average price 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

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.