Ameren Corporation $AEE Stock Holdings Trimmed by Barclays PLC

Key Points

• Barclays PLC trimmed its Ameren stake by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, selling about 150,000 shares and ending with 1.13 million shares valued at roughly $113.3 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Ameren carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $117.54. Recent updates included target increases from UBS and Barclays, while BTIG initiated coverage with a $131 target.
• Ameren posted solid quarterly results and a dividend, beating EPS expectations with $1.28 per share and declaring a $0.75 quarterly dividend payable June 30, implying a 2.7% annual yield.

Barclays PLC reduced its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,134,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 149,998 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.42% of Ameren worth $113,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ameren by 68.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,080,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $425,951,000 after buying an additional 1,661,019 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its stake in Ameren by 104,698.0% in the third quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,370,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $143,091,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,450 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 112.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Ameren by 9,966.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 518,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,800,000 after acquiring an additional 513,572 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,559,565,000 after acquiring an additional 495,945 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 target price on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ameren from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameren currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.54.

Insider Activity

In other Ameren news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.35, for a total value of $164,025.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 32,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,602,317.05. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $109.69 on Tuesday. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $93.50 and a 12 month high of $115.58. The stock has a market cap of $30.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.47. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $110.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.96%.

Ameren Company 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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