Capital Advisors Inc. OK Buys New Stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK purchased a new stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in Ameren by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 9,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,423,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $95.84 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $96.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.19. Ameren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $70.19 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AEE. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $114.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.64.

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.

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