Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Buys 29,807 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Tudor Investment Corp increased its stake in Ameren by 23.7%, buying 29,807 shares to own 155,836 shares worth about $16.27 million at quarter-end.
• Ameren beat quarterly estimates with $0.78 EPS and $1.78 billion revenue (revenue down 8.2% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 ($3.00 annual, a 2.8% yield).
• The stock carries a consensus "Hold" rating with a $113.30 price target, though several analysts have issued upgrades or higher targets (e.g., Argus strong-buy, Mizuho $117, Wells Fargo overweight).

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 29,807 shares during the quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL owned about 0.06% of Ameren worth $16,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 285.5% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ameren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameren during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ameren from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho set a $117.00 price objective on Ameren in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ameren from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Ameren Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:AEE opened at $106.20 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $107.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.84. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $91.77 and a 1 year high of $113.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.56.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 16.55%.The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The company's revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Ameren's payout ratio is 56.07%.

About Ameren

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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