Ameren Corporation $AEE Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ameren Corporation by 2.4% during the first quarter, now owning 2,479,590 shares valued at approximately $248.95 million.
• Ameren's latest earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $1.01, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $2.22 billion, marking a significant 31.2% increase compared to the same quarter a year prior.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%, with a payout ratio of 62.42%.

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,479,590 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 57,545 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.92% of Ameren worth $248,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,038,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,518,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,811 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter valued at about $241,496,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,445,138,000 after purchasing an additional 979,928 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 76.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 11,913.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $80,500,000 after purchasing an additional 795,120 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Ameren stock traded down $0.8250 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $101.1250. 483,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,712,365. Ameren Corporation has a twelve month low of $81.31 and a twelve month high of $104.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. UBS Group increased 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. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.36.

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.