ABC Arbitrage SA Makes New Investment in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA opened a new position in Ameren during the first quarter, buying 13,437 shares valued at about $1.48 million.
• Institutional ownership in Ameren remains high at 79.09%, with several large funds, including Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, and State Street, also increasing their holdings recently.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on the stock: Ameren has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average target price of $119.50, while the company also reported earnings above estimates and maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share.

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,437 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,477,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,559,565,000 after buying an additional 495,945 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,885,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,586,324,000 after acquiring an additional 362,052 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,503,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,448,342,000 after acquiring an additional 457,876 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,283,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $655,892,000 after purchasing an additional 60,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,290,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $528,278,000 after purchasing an additional 149,952 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. Argus increased their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Ameren from $126.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Ameren from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $120.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $119.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.35, for a total value of $164,025.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,602,317.05. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AEE stock opened at $113.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $95.15 and a 52-week high of $118.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $110.32 and its 200 day moving average is $108.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 53.96%.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation NYSE: AEE is an integrated energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides electric and natural gas delivery and related services in portions of Missouri and Illinois. The company operates regulated utility businesses that serve a broad mix of residential, commercial and industrial customers, and it participates in wholesale energy markets and transmission operations that support reliable service across its service territories.

Ameren's core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, distribution of natural gas, and the provision of customer energy solutions such as demand-side management and energy efficiency programs.

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