Ameriprise Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Ameren Corporation by 6.1%, selling 394,648 shares and now holding 6,043,873 shares worth approximately $606.8 million.
• Several hedge funds have recently entered positions in Ameren, with institutional investors owning 79.09% of the company's stock.
• Ameren announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71, with a yield of 2.8%, and is projected to post earnings per share of 4.93 for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,043,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 394,648 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 2.24% of Ameren worth $606,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Ameren by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 5,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Ameren by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Ameren by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,036,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $92,373,000 after purchasing an additional 31,288 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Ameren by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 16,513 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 1,680.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,668 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AEE. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.36.

Ameren Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:AEE traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $100.91. 1,295,980 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,716,290. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $81.31 and a one year high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $27.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $98.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.12. 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 (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. 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 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.