Ameren Corporation $AEE Shares Sold by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Ameren by 41.1% in Q3, selling 338,037 shares and leaving it with 483,793 shares valued at roughly $50.5M (about 1.2% of Ceredex’s portfolio).
• Ameren raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (from $0.71), a 2.7% yield and $3.00 annualized, with an ex-dividend date of March 10 and payment on March 31.
• Analysts are mixed: MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of “Hold” with a target price of $113.30, although several brokers recently raised targets (e.g., UBS to $127, BMO to $120).

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 483,793 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 338,037 shares during the quarter. Ameren comprises about 1.2% of Ceredex Value Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.18% of Ameren worth $50,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameren by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 19.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Ameren by 42.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Ameren during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 3.3% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus raised shares of Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Mizuho set a $117.00 price target on Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. The trade was a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $111.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $30.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $105.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.27. Ameren Corporation has a 52 week low of $91.77 and a 52 week high of $113.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The business's revenue was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 53.08%.

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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