Squarepoint Ops LLC Raises Holdings in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) by 65.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 144,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,287 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $16,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameren by 22.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 19.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 42.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 22,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after buying an additional 6,772 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 48.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Ameren from $124.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ameren from $126.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BTIG Research set a $126.00 target price on Ameren in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.42.

Ameren Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AEE opened at $106.23 on Thursday. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $96.57 and a 1-year 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’s 50-day moving average price is $109.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.46.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued 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. Ameren had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Ameren’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Corporation will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total value of $708,240.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 199,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,758,113.44. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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. Also, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total transaction of $35,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 32,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,522,796.20. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Profile

Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) is a regulated electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its operating companies, Ameren provides energy generation, transmission, distribution and related services to customers in Missouri and Illinois.

Ameren Missouri operates an integrated electric utility serving communities across Missouri and also provides natural gas distribution services in parts of the state. Ameren Illinois operates electric and natural gas distribution businesses serving customers throughout much of Illinois.