Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Raises Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,686 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings in Ameren were worth $10,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,080,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $425,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661,019 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its stake in Ameren by 104,698.0% in the 3rd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,370,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $143,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,450 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp purchased a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,614,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Ameren by 9,966.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 518,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,800,000 after purchasing an additional 513,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 112.4% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 964,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $100,624,000 after purchasing an additional 510,192 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.60, for a total transaction of $673,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,002,673.60. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $126.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Ameren from $119.00 to $117.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.31.

Ameren Stock Performance

Ameren stock opened at $111.14 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $110.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $30.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.52. Ameren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $93.27 and a fifty-two week high of $115.53.

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

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. 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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