Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Has $21.10 Million Stock Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its ownership of Ameren shares by 117.9%, now holding approximately 210,143 shares valued at $21.1 million.
• Analyst ratings for Ameren Corporation vary, with upgrades from BMO Capital Markets and Wells Fargo, while Barclays downgraded its price target, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Ameren recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $1.01 exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 with a yield of 2.8%.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 117.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,143 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 113,704 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. owned 0.08% of Ameren worth $21,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Ameren by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 499 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Ameren by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Ameren by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.36.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AEE traded up $0.1620 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $102.0220. The company had a trading volume of 1,570,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,727,229. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $81.31 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The firm's 50 day moving average is $98.15 and its 200-day moving average is $97.99.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 14.55%.The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.42%.

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.