Crumly & Associates Inc. Makes New $301,000 Investment in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Crumly & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Ameren by 74.5% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in Ameren by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AEE. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $114.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.64.

Ameren Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of AEE stock traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $95.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,028,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,099. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $69.39 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $96.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.49.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Ameren's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.