AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ameren Corporation by 93.0%, acquiring an additional 85,204 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 176,802 shares valued at $17.75 million.
• Ameren recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.01, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a revenue increase of 31.2% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 2.9%, with a payout ratio of 62.42%.

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 93.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,802 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 85,204 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Ameren worth $17,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at $25,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at $34,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 74.5% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ameren by 586.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 29.6% during the first 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. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.80.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $100.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,150,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,464. The firm has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $82.95 and a 1-year high of $104.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.29. 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 issued 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. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 14.55%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. 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 year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

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