Ameren Corporation $AEE Shares Sold by National Pension Service

Key Points

• The National Pension Service decreased its stake in Ameren Corporation by 1.2% during the first quarter, holding 329,976 shares worth approximately $33.13 million.
• Analysts have varying price targets for Ameren, with BMO Capital Markets raising its target from $106.00 to $108.00, while Barclays lowered its target from $104.00 to $100.00.
• Ameren announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.8% for investors.

National Pension Service cut its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 329,976 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,120 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.12% of Ameren worth $33,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth $80,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 217,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $21,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,746 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 86,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,709,000 after purchasing an additional 4,792 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 36,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,661,000 after purchasing an additional 3,778 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ameren from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ameren from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.36.

Ameren Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $0.2250 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.0850. 531,423 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,720,583. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $98.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.96. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $81.31 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 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 period last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 62.42%.

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.