IFM Investors Pty Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in Ameren Corporation by 21.9%, selling 17,399 shares and holding a total of 61,933 shares worth $6,218,000.
• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 2.9%, now owning over 34 million shares, while several other institutional investors also adjusted their holdings.
• Ameren reported a quarterly EPS of $1.01, exceeding estimates, and declared a dividend of $0.71 per share, reflecting a 2.9% yield.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,933 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,399 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Ameren were worth $6,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,445,138,000 after buying an additional 979,928 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,355,848 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,658,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $467,741,000 after purchasing an additional 646,000 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 51.7% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,576,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $359,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 5.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,825,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $283,636,000 after purchasing an additional 151,808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total transaction of $101,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $929,240.91. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

Shares of AEE opened at $99.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $26.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.47. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $99.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.29. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $82.79 and a 1 year high of $104.10.

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

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is 62.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.80.

Ameren Company 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.

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