International Assets Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 11th, 2023

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $1,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameren by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,090,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,504,369,000 after purchasing an additional 343,773 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,625,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,500,321,000 after buying an additional 110,291 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,313,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,152,958,000 after buying an additional 225,354 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its position in shares of Ameren by 4.8% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 3,985,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,008,000 after buying an additional 184,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 6.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,597,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $243,575,000 after buying an additional 152,598 shares in the last quarter. 78.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.15, for a total transaction of $163,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,917.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.15, for a total value of $163,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,917.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Fadi M. Diya sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.41, for a total transaction of $422,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,533 shares in the company, valued at $7,979,530.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 63,509 shares of company stock valued at $5,221,792. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com began coverage on Ameren in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on Ameren from $89.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ameren from $89.00 to $84.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Ameren from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $84.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.10.

Ameren Stock Performance

NYSE:AEE opened at $90.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.12 and its 200 day moving average is $85.13. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $73.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 13.50% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The business’s revenue was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Ameren’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

Ameren Company Profile

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Ameren Corp. is a public utility holding company, which engages in the provision of electric and natural gas services. It operates through the following segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, Ameren Transmission, and Other. The Ameren Transmission segment consists of the aggregated electric transmission businesses of Ameren Illinois and Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI).