First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP cut its Ameren stake by 23.6% in the first quarter, selling 215,392 shares and ending with 698,237 shares valued at about $76.75 million.
• Ameren reported Q1 EPS of $1.28, topping analyst expectations, though revenue of $2.18 billion came in below estimates; the company also reiterated FY 2026 guidance of 5.25 to 5.45 EPS.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $121.50; Ameren also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share for a 2.6% annualized yield.

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 698,237 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 215,392 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.25% of Ameren worth $76,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Ameren by 285.5% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 6,040.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 6,080.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 74.9% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 292 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.35, for a total value of $164,025.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 32,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,602,317.05. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Ameren from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $126.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Ameren Stock Up 0.4%

AEE opened at $113.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $96.57 and a twelve month high of $118.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.11. Ameren had a net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Ameren's payout ratio is 53.96%.

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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