Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 31,584 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Ameren Corporation by 19.6%, selling 31,584 shares and holding 129,877 shares worth approximately $13 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Several large investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Price T Rowe Associates Inc., have increased their holdings in Ameren during the same period, indicating strong interest from institutional investors.
• Ameren reported earnings of $1.01 per share, surpassing expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue growth of 31.2%, with a quarterly dividend of $0.71 scheduled for payout on September 30th.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,584 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $13,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,445,138,000 after purchasing an additional 979,928 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,355,848 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 646,000 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Ameren by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,601,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $410,174,000 after buying an additional 39,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,479,590 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $248,951,000 after buying an additional 57,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE AEE traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $99.81. 985,850 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,436,310. Ameren Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.31 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.19. The stock has a market cap of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.45.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 14.55%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

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

Ameren Profile

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.