Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,138 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in **Ameren Corporation** by **122.6%** in Q1, acquiring **5,138 additional shares**, bringing its total holdings to **9,330 shares** valued at approximately **$937,000**.
• Ameren recently reported **$1.01** earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.01, with revenues reaching **$2.22 billion**—a **31.2%** increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of **$0.71** per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of **2.9%**, with the **ex-dividend date** set for **September 9th**.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 122.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,330 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,138 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ameren were worth $937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEE. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 29.5% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,948 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,521,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,582,000. Beck Bode LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 2,004.9% in the first quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 179,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,065,000 after purchasing an additional 171,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,693,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Price Performance

NYSE AEE traded up $0.48 on Friday, reaching $100.79. 917,327 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,384,878. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $82.95 and a 12 month high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.31. The stock has a market cap of $27.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.47.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business'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. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,240.91. This trade represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AEE. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.80.

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.