Zacks Research Equities Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q3 2023 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ameren in a research report issued on Friday, September 8th. Zacks Research analyst A. Dutta now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $1.79 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.83. The consensus estimate for Ameren’s current full-year earnings is $4.38 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Ameren’s Q4 2023 earnings at $0.69 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.80 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.09 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.95 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on AEE. 888 reaffirmed an “upgrade” rating on shares of Ameren in a report on Monday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ameren from $101.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Ameren from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.56.

Ameren Stock Up 0.9 %

AEE stock opened at $79.41 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $82.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Ameren has a 12 month low of $73.28 and a 12 month high of $96.36.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.12. Ameren had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 12th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.02%.

Insider Transactions at Ameren

In other Ameren news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,155 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total transaction of $251,232.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 161,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,849,813.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Fadi M. Diya sold 36,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.37, for a total transaction of $3,042,747.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 57,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,750,772.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 3,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total transaction of $251,232.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 161,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,849,813.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ameren by 100,874.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,273,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,604,406,000 after buying an additional 74,200,015 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 133.8% during the 1st quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,990,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,855,894 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameren by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,824,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,051,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,700 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,889,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,302,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameren by 39.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,984,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $265,358,000 after purchasing an additional 849,651 shares during the last quarter. 77.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ameren

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 and transmission businesses.