Zimmer Partners LP Grows Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Key Points

• Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in Ameren Corporation by 6.8% during the first quarter, owning approximately 1.1 million shares, which represents 2.1% of its investment portfolio.
• Ameren's recent earnings report showed a positive trend with $1.01 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and a revenue increase of 31.2% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71 per share, yielding around 2.8%, with a payout ratio of 62.42% as of the recent financial quarter.

Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,103,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 70,164 shares during the period. Ameren makes up about 2.1% of Zimmer Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Zimmer Partners LP owned approximately 0.41% of Ameren worth $110,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Ameren by 19.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Dean Capital Management raised its holdings in Ameren by 2.1% during the first quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 23,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,377,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Ameren during the first quarter worth $320,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth $628,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 1st quarter worth $3,532,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. KeyCorp set a $104.00 target price on shares of Ameren and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ameren from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price 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. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total transaction of $101,790.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,129 shares of the company's stock, 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 this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.79. 917,327 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,335,464. The firm has a market cap of $27.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.47. The stock's fifty day moving average is $99.86 and its 200 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 Corporation has a one year low of $82.95 and a one year high of $104.10.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

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