USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 25,400 Shares of Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Ameren Corporation by 55.4% during the first quarter, selling 25,400 shares and leaving it with 20,439 shares valued at approximately $2.05 million.
• Ameren recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.01 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates and reflecting a 31.2% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, representing a yield of 2.8%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 9th.

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 55.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,439 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 25,400 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Ameren were worth $2,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Ameren during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 74.5% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Ameren by 586.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Ameren by 29.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 499 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $929,240.91. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AEE. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. 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 research note on Thursday, July 10th. KeyCorp set a $104.00 price target on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.80.

Ameren Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Ameren stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 917,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,464. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $82.95 and a 52-week high of $104.10. The company has a market cap of $27.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.47. The firm's 50-day moving average is $99.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

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