Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 653,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,816 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameren were worth $62,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameren in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Ameren by 600.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Ameren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ameren during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameren by 586.9% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn G. Mizell sold 1,000 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.79, for a total value of $101,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,240.91. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AEE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ameren from $111.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays set a $113.00 target price on Ameren in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameren from $104.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Ameren from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.63.

Ameren Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of AEE opened at $104.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.49. Ameren Corporation has a 1 year low of $85.27 and a 1 year high of $106.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.15.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Ameren had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Ameren’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.850-5.050 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ameren Corporation will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is 62.42%.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.