KBC Group NV Increases Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 18.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,356 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ameren were worth $3,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ameren by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,559,565,000 after buying an additional 495,945 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,885,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,586,324,000 after acquiring an additional 362,052 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,503,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,448,342,000 after acquiring an additional 457,876 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 3.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,223,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $597,673,000 after acquiring an additional 179,137 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,290,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,278,000 after acquiring an additional 149,952 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameren news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total transaction of $35,451.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,971.44. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AEE opened at $113.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $96.57 and a 12 month high of $118.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $110.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.19. The firm has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.47.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameren Corporation will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 53.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ameren from $126.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Ameren from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Ameren from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

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.