Cohen & Steers Inc. Decreases Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Cohen & Steers trimmed its Ameren stake by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,834 shares and ending with 1,536,838 shares valued at about $153.5 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on Ameren: JPMorgan upgraded the stock to overweight, and the overall Street view is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $117.54.
• Ameren reported Q1 earnings of $1.28 per share, beating estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share for a 2.8% annualized yield.

Cohen & Steers Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,536,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 20,834 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned 0.57% of Ameren worth $153,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,559,565,000 after buying an additional 495,945 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,045,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,466,105,000 after buying an additional 328,401 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,283,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $655,892,000 after buying an additional 60,519 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Ameren by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,140,239 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $536,538,000 after acquiring an additional 49,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ameren by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,080,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $425,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BTIG Research began coverage on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 target price on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameren presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.54.

Ameren Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:AEE opened at $108.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $93.50 and a 1-year high of $115.58. The company's fifty day moving average price is $110.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.78. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Ameren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total transaction of $35,451.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,971.44. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Ameren Profile

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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