National Pension Service Increases Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• National Pension Service boosted its Ameren stake by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 36,078 additional shares and bringing its total to 371,365 shares worth about $37.1 million.
• Ameren reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.28 per share, topping analyst estimates, while revenue came in slightly below expectations at $2.18 billion.
• The utility declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 2.8%, and analysts currently have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy on the stock.

National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 371,365 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 36,078 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.14% of Ameren worth $37,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ameren by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,559,565,000 after buying an additional 495,945 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ameren by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,045,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,466,105,000 after acquiring an additional 328,401 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,283,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $655,892,000 after acquiring an additional 60,519 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Ameren by 1.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,140,239 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $536,538,000 after acquiring an additional 49,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ameren by 68.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,080,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $425,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total value of $35,451.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,557,971.44. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AEE opened at $107.91 on Monday. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $93.50 and a twelve month high of $115.58. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.47.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.11. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 53.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AEE. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ameren from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Ameren from $126.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ameren from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.54.

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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