UBS Group AG Purchases 43,821 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• UBS Group AG increased its stake in Ameren by 4.7% in Q4, buying 43,821 shares to hold 973,193 shares (about 0.36% of the company) valued at roughly $97.2 million.
• Ameren raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (annualized $3.00) for a yield of 2.6%, with a dividend payout ratio of about 56.1%.
• The stock carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $117.31 average price target, while recent broker activity includes buy initiations from BTIG ($131 target) and Truist ($126 target).

UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 973,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,821 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned about 0.36% of Ameren worth $97,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co grew its holdings in Ameren by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 14,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 474 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Ameren by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AEE. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Ameren in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $126.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.31.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock opened at $113.63 on Friday. 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 $31.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $111.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.81. Ameren Corporation has a one year low of $93.27 and a one year high of $115.59.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The company's revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Ameren's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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