TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co Takes $419,000 Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co has acquired a new stake in Ameren Corporation worth approximately $419,000 by purchasing 4,361 shares during the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Ameren, with ownership by hedge funds and other institutions now at 79.09%.
• Ameren declared a quarterly dividend of $0.71, which equates to an annualized dividend yield of 2.8% for shareholders of record on September 9th.

TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co bought a new stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 29.6% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 499 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 3.1% during the first quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 5.3% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 2.7% during the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.75.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total value of $101,790.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,129 shares in the company, valued at $929,240.91. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $102.08 on Friday. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $85.27 and a 12-month high of $104.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $27.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $100.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.34.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

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

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