Ameren Corporation $AEE Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. significantly reduced its stake in Ameren Corporation by 88.4%, selling 39,284 shares, and now holds 5,153 shares valued at approximately $495,000.
• Despite the selling by Assenagon, other institutional investors like Vanguard Group Inc. and Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased their positions in Ameren, indicating strong institutional interest, with 79.09% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Ameren recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 62.42%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 39,284 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,445,138,000 after purchasing an additional 979,928 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ameren by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,404,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,851,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355,848 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,658,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $467,741,000 after acquiring an additional 646,000 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 51.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,576,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $359,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,509 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,825,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $283,636,000 after acquiring an additional 151,808 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ameren from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $104.00 price objective on Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.75.

Ameren Stock Up 1.3%

AEE stock opened at $102.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $27.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $100.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.35. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $85.27 and a one year high of $104.10.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 9,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $929,240.91. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% 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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