USA Financial Formulas Cuts Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

USA Financial Formulas lowered its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 15.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,424 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Ameren were worth $784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in Ameren by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $102.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Four 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $95.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.62. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Ameren’s payout ratio is 62.97%.

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.