3,650 Shares in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) Bought by Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new position in Ameren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $295,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,682 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,913,000 after buying an additional 5,595 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 667 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 120,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,713,000 after buying an additional 2,938 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 55,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,988,000 after buying an additional 14,643 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.36.

Ameren Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:AEE traded up $1.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,383,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,586,990. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $74.33 and a one year high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50 day moving average is $95.99 and its 200-day moving average is $96.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

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

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.