EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 7,640 Ameren Corporation $AEE

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $864,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEE. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 106.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 919,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,055,000 after acquiring an additional 473,048 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ameren by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,559,565,000 after acquiring an additional 495,945 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Ameren during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,637,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameren by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,473,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,966,000 after purchasing an additional 123,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 973,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,183,000 after purchasing an additional 43,821 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameren Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of AEE opened at $106.14 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $96.57 and a 12-month high of $118.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.25.

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

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AEE. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp raised shares of Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $122.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Ameren from $124.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total transaction of $35,402.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,522,796.20. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction of $708,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 199,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,758,113.44. This trade represents a 3.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameren Company 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.