Net Worth Advisory Group Purchases New Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,017 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $114.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $103.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Ameren Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:AEE traded down $1.65 on Friday, hitting $95.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,349,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,089. The business's fifty day moving average is $97.26 and its 200 day moving average is $95.67. The company has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Ameren Co. has a 52 week low of $69.39 and a 52 week high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. The firm's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.