Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Has $5.39 Million Holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,253 shares during the period. Ameren comprises about 3.5% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Ameren were worth $5,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter worth about $19,367,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the first quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $273,527,000 after buying an additional 2,901,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $94.57 on Monday. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $97.08 and its 200 day moving average is $95.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $25.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.80.

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.