Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Holdings Boosted by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 87.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 539,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 252,157 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $46,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. New Hampshire Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Ameren by 138.1% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.77% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $80.41 on Thursday. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $73.28 and a twelve month high of $96.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $21.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.50% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 13th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 12th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.02%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, SVP Fadi M. Diya sold 36,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.37, for a total value of $3,042,747.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 57,676 shares in the company, valued at $4,750,772.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. 888 restated an “upgrade” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ameren from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ameren from $88.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on Ameren from $89.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.56.

Ameren 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 and transmission businesses.