Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.71

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 9th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.71 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th.

Ameren has a dividend payout ratio of 53.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ameren to earn $5.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.5%.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $96.03 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $25.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $97.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.60. Ameren has a 12 month low of $69.39 and a 12 month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) 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). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameren

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AEE. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.