Westpac Banking Corp Buys Shares of 9,746 Ameren Corporation $AEE

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEE. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ameren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Ameren by 74.9% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total value of $35,402.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,340 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total value of $708,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 199,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,758,113.44. The trade was a 3.15% 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 insiders.

Ameren Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE AEE opened at $106.14 on Friday. Ameren Corporation has a 12-month low of $96.57 and a 12-month high of $118.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.20. 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 stock has a market cap 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 (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Ameren had a net margin of 17.86% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’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. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised Ameren from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Ameren from $124.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.42.

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.