National Pension Service Grows Stock Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 371,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,078 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ameren were worth $37,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Ameren by 285.5% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 6,080.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Ameren in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $120.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Ameren from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Ameren from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.54.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE AEE opened at $107.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $110.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.58. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $93.50 and a 12-month high of $115.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.47.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 53.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameren

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total value of $35,451.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,557,971.44. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Profile

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.