KeyCorp Weighs in on Ameren’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:AEE)

Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) – Equities researchers at KeyCorp lifted their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ameren in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $4.63 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $4.58. The consensus estimate for Ameren’s current full-year earnings is $4.61 per share.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AEE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ameren from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised shares of Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ameren from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Ameren Price Performance

AEE stock opened at $91.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.55. The company has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ameren has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $95.69.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Ameren’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total transaction of $598,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 205,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,906,507.65. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEE. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,139,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,149,221,000 after purchasing an additional 334,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ameren by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after buying an additional 127,287 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,992,000 after buying an additional 39,300 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ameren by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,631,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 984,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ameren by 106.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,162 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by 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 business.