CFO4Life Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

CFO4Life Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,567 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ameren by 74.5% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 586.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in Ameren by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, reaching $96.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 472,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,573,013. The company has a market capitalization of $26.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $71.87 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current 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 $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 62.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $114.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.27.

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.