Milford Funds Ltd. Purchases New Stake in Ameren Corporation $AEE

Milford Funds Ltd. bought a new position in Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 245,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,549,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Ameren by 285.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ameren by 6,040.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Ameren by 6,080.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Ameren by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEE has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 target price on Ameren in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Ameren in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho set a $117.00 target price on Ameren in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ameren from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Theresa A. Shaw sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.08, for a total transaction of $35,451.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,971.44. This represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Stock Performance

AEE opened at $108.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.09 and a 200-day moving average of $106.78. Ameren Corporation has a 52-week low of $93.50 and a 52-week high of $115.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.62.

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

Ameren Announces Dividend

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

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.