Ameren Corporation $AEE Holdings Boosted by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Key Points

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Ameren by 133.9% in the first quarter, and several other institutional investors also increased or initiated positions in the utility company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: multiple firms reiterated or raised buy ratings, and Ameren now has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $120.67.
• Ameren reported Q1 earnings of $1.28 per share, topping estimates, and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, implying a 2.7% yield.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 133.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,137 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 69,341 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Ameren were worth $13,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AEE. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ameren by 6,051.1% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 932,017 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $93,071,000 after buying an additional 916,865 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth about $66,631,000. Aventail Capital Group LP purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,546,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 70,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,990,000 after acquiring an additional 655,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 9,966.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 518,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,800,000 after purchasing an additional 513,572 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ameren from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ameren from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.35, for a total transaction of $164,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 32,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,602,317.05. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Up 1.3%

AEE opened at $112.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.80. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $96.27 and a twelve month high of $118.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.96%.

Ameren 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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