Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Buys New Position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $221,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 0.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 329,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,070,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 9.9% during the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 4,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Ameren by 1.4% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 23,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Ameren by 1,462.8% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 39,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,918,000 after acquiring an additional 36,525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of AEE stock traded down $1.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $94.27. 167,761 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,765,198. The business's fifty day moving average is $96.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $70.27 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.40% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $114.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.64.

Ameren Company 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.