65,846 Shares in Ameren Corporation $AEE Acquired by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired 65,846 shares of Ameren Corporation, totaling approximately $6.6 million, signaling significant institutional interest in the utilities provider.
• Ameren recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, amounting to an annualized dividend of $2.84 and a yield of 2.8%.
• In the latest performance reports, Ameren reported earnings of $1.01 EPS, exceeding consensus estimates, and achieved a 31.2% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 65,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,611,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $241,496,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 5.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,404,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,851,821,000 after buying an additional 1,355,848 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ameren by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,445,138,000 after purchasing an additional 979,928 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $190,250,000 after purchasing an additional 926,126 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 11,913.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $80,500,000 after buying an additional 795,120 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total value of $101,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $99.92. The stock had a trading volume of 979,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,320,332. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $82.79 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.20 and a 200 day moving average of $98.23.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 14.55%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Ameren's payout ratio is currently 62.42%.

Ameren Profile

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.