The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 543,780 Ameren Corporation $AEE

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 543,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $61,469,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.20% of Ameren at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ameren by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,645,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,559,565,000 after buying an additional 495,945 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Ameren during the second quarter worth $2,918,526,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,885,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,586,324,000 after acquiring an additional 362,052 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Ameren by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,503,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,448,342,000 after acquiring an additional 457,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 3.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,223,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $597,673,000 after acquiring an additional 179,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total value of $35,402.25. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 32,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,522,796.20. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Also, insider Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.96, for a total value of $708,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 199,689 shares in the company, valued at $21,758,113.44. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE AEE opened at $106.94 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.29. 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 $29.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a 12 month low of $96.57 and a 12 month high of $118.32.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.8%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ameren from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ameren from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ameren in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.