Ameren Corporation $AEE Position Boosted by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in Ameren by 83.2% in the 4th quarter to 22,926 shares (worth $2.289M), and hedge funds/institutions now own 79.09% of the company.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target of $117.31, including recent upgrades such as Truist's "Buy" with a $126 target and Barclays raising its target to $116.
• Ameren raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (annualized $3.00, yield ~2.7%), and recently reported Q earnings of $0.78 EPS (beat by $0.01) while revenue declined 8.2% year-over-year.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 83.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,926 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,409 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Ameren were worth $2,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 14,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,474,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 474 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Ameren in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $126.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.31.

Ameren Stock Down 0.8%

AEE opened at $111.14 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.56. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $93.27 and a twelve month high of $115.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $30.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.52.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 56.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total value of $673,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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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