Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 18.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,416 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $2,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Ameren by 1,732.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Ameren by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,357,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $190,250,000 after purchasing an additional 926,126 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE AEE traded down $0.63 on Friday, hitting $94.86. The company had a trading volume of 637,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,571,373. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $70.19 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.09. 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 $25.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Ameren's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is 62.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.64.

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.