Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Takes Position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,411,125,000 after acquiring an additional 392,170 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,518,835,000 after acquiring an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,157,000 after acquiring an additional 77,282 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 96.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $410,174,000 after acquiring an additional 39,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock traded up $1.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $96.09. 1,432,101 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,570,136. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $97.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.76. 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 $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $69.39 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The firm's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

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.