Machina Capital S.A.S. Invests $751,000 in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. has acquired 7,484 shares of Ameren Corporation, valued at approximately $751,000, marking a new investment in the utilities provider.
• In the fourth quarter, several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Ameren, with Wells Fargo & Company MN raising its position by 1,732.4% and now owning over 3 million shares.
• Ameren reported a quarterly revenue of $2.10 billion, surpassing expectations, although it missed EPS estimates with reported earnings of $1.07, compared to the consensus of $1.08.

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $751,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 499 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $901,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,423,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock traded down $1.40 on Monday, reaching $98.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 400,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,737,067. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.00. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $77.08 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a market capitalization of $26.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

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 (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 company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Ameren's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current 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 paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.36.

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.