Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Ameren were worth $2,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 74.5% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 586.9% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in Ameren by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group set a $114.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.36.

Ameren Trading Up 1.4%

AEE stock traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,383,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,591,193. 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 capitalization of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.01 and a 200 day moving average of $96.54. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $74.87 and a 12 month high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Ameren's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.97%.

Ameren 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.