Forsta AP Fonden Reduces Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden cut its Ameren stake by 19% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,700 shares and leaving it with 45,700 shares worth about $4.56 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains fairly positive, with nine analysts rating Ameren a Buy, five a Hold, and a consensus target price of $117.54. JPMorgan recently upgraded the stock to Overweight, though Wall Street Zen downgraded it to Sell.
• Ameren posted solid quarterly results and maintains a dividend, reporting EPS of $1.28 versus expectations of $1.17 and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, implying a 2.9% annual yield.

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,700 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Ameren were worth $4,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,772 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Ameren from $126.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ameren from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 32,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,557,971.44. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $105.22 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.12 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.47. The business's 50-day moving average price is $110.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.58. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $93.50 and a 12 month high of $115.58.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.The company's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 53.96%.

Ameren Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AEE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.