82,229 Shares in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has invested approximately $8.26 million in Ameren Corporation by purchasing 82,229 shares in the first quarter.
• Ameren reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.00, with a 31.2% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.8%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 82,229 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,256,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Ameren by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,048,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,411,125,000 after buying an additional 392,170 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,518,835,000 after buying an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,749,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,157,000 after buying an additional 77,282 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,170,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $460,917,000 after buying an additional 2,539,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Ameren by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $410,174,000 after buying an additional 39,455 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $1.21 on Monday, reaching $103.32. 1,126,218 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,579,144. The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.75 and a 200-day moving average of $97.35. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $78.91 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The company has a market capitalization of $27.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The business's revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given 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 2.7%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $101.36.

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.