Ameren Corporation (AEE) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 10th

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a 5.6% increase from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71.

Ameren has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Ameren has a payout ratio of 56.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ameren to earn $5.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.5%.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $111.55 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.19. Ameren has a 12 month low of $91.77 and a 12 month high of $113.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ameren will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.30.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.