Merit Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Ameren by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,411,125,000 after buying an additional 392,170 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,157,000 after purchasing an additional 77,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $410,174,000 after buying an additional 39,455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE opened at $95.52 on Friday. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.66. The company has a market capitalization of $25.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AEE. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 price objective (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp raised Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.00.

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.