Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes $654,000 Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi increased its position in shares of Ameren by 106.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 919,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,055,000 after purchasing an additional 473,048 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameren in the second quarter worth approximately $1,637,000. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in Ameren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $924,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,473,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,966,000 after acquiring an additional 123,084 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Ameren by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 973,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,183,000 after acquiring an additional 43,821 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Ameren stock opened at $106.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $110.83 and a 200 day moving average of $110.29. Ameren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $96.57 and a fifty-two week high of $118.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 17.86%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.82%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total transaction of $35,402.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,522,796.20. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total value of $708,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 199,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,758,113.44. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. BTIG Research set a $126.00 price target on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.42.

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.