California Public Employees Retirement System Has $65.65 Million Stock Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System cut its Ameren stake by 12.4% in the first quarter, leaving it with 597,231 shares valued at about $65.65 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive: analysts have a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” on Ameren, with an average price target of $120.67.
• Ameren reported Q1 EPS of $1.28, beating expectations, and it continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, or $3.00 annualized, for a yield of about 2.7%.

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 597,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 84,480 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.22% of Ameren worth $65,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 6,051.1% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 932,017 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,071,000 after acquiring an additional 916,865 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $66,631,000. Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new position in shares of Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at $66,546,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 655,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position 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 worth $51,800,000 after purchasing an additional 513,572 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AEE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ameren from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total transaction of $35,451.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,557,971.44. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $111.60 on Monday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $110.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.88. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $96.57 and a one year high of $118.32. The firm has a market cap of $30.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.47. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.96%.

About Ameren

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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