IPG Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $1.34 Million Investment in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Key Points

• IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired 13,378 shares of Ameren Corporation, valued at approximately $1,343,000, as part of their new stake in the company during the first quarter.
• Ameren Corporation reported $1.01 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 31.2% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company has an annualized dividend of $2.84 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 62.97%.

IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,378 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,343,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 4,014 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Ameren by 1,732.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,068,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $273,527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,047 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,323,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $760,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 290.0% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 10,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 8,087 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Down 0.4%

AEE traded down $0.42 on Wednesday, reaching $101.59. 1,492,327 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,558,898. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $78.91 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $97.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 14.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 62.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.36.

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.