Ameren (NYSE:AEE) Reaches New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Ameren Corporation reached a new 52-week high of $104.50, closing at $104.05 with a trading volume of 72,904 shares, marking significant investor interest.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Ameren, with price targets ranging from $100.00 to $114.00, reflecting different outlooks on the company's performance.
• Ameren recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, representing a dividend yield of 2.7%, with shares held by institutional investors making up over 79.09% of its stock.

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $104.50 and last traded at $104.05, with a volume of 72904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Ameren from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.75.

Ameren Stock Up 0.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Ameren's revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other Ameren news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total transaction of $101,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,129 shares in the company, valued at $929,240.91. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in Ameren by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 7,105 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Ameren by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 1,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Ameren by 70.9% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 258 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Ameren by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 29.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 499 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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.

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