Milford Funds Ltd. Takes $24.55 Million Position in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Milford Funds Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 245,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,549,000. Milford Funds Ltd. owned 0.09% of Ameren as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 1.4% in the fourth 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. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,045,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,466,105,000 after buying an additional 328,401 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,283,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $655,892,000 after purchasing an additional 60,519 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 1.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,140,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,538,000 after purchasing an additional 49,282 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ameren by 68.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,080,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $425,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661,019 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ameren from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus boosted their target price on Ameren from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 target price on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.35, for a total transaction of $164,025.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,602,317.05. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:AEE opened at $108.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.47. Ameren Corporation has a 1-year low of $93.50 and a 1-year high of $115.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $110.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.78.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 17.17%.Ameren’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. Ameren has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.250-5.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameren Corporation will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 53.96%.

About Ameren

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.