First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 23.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 698,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 215,392 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Ameren were worth $76,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AEE. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Ameren by 285.5% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ameren by 6,040.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Ameren by 6,080.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 74.9% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In other Ameren news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.35, for a total transaction of $164,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,943 shares in the company, valued at $3,602,317.05. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $113.75 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.22. 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 twelve month low of $96.57 and a twelve month high of $118.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 53.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Ameren from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.