T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 4,022,707 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Ameren Corporation by 23.6%, selling 4,022,707 shares and now holds approximately 13 million shares, representing 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and Vanguard Group Inc., have modified their positions in Ameren, with Vanguard increasing its stake by 2.9% to approximately $3.45 billion worth of shares.
• Ameren announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.8%, set to be paid on September 30th to stockholders of record on September 9th.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,016,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,022,707 shares during the period. Ameren makes up approximately 0.9% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 4.82% of Ameren worth $1,306,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,496,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,314,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,445,138,000 after acquiring an additional 979,928 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,134,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $190,250,000 after acquiring an additional 926,126 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 11,913.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 801,794 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $80,500,000 after acquiring an additional 795,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 16.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,658,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $467,741,000 after acquiring an additional 646,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEE. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 increased 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, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.36.

Ameren Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AEE traded up $0.4360 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $101.9360. 1,195,982 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,525,510. The company has a market cap of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $81.31 and a 52 week high of $104.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.08.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS 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 net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend 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.