Oak Thistle LLC Purchases New Shares in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,884 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,398,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Ameren in the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 25,299 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,255,000 after buying an additional 7,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 131,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,695,000 after purchasing an additional 14,121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:AEE traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $100.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,030,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,743,221. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.39 and a 200-day moving average of $96.81. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $77.08 and a 1 year high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 10.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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 increased their price objective on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.