Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Acquires 28,834 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 425,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,834 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ameren were worth $37,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AEE. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 334,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ameren by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,672,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $581,661,000 after purchasing an additional 127,287 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Ameren by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,561,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,992,000 after buying an additional 39,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position 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 period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 106.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,498,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,644,000 after buying an additional 1,286,162 shares in the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEE has been the topic of several research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Ameren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ameren from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ameren from $86.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ameren from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.89.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of AEE stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $91.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,034,623. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Michael L. Moehn sold 6,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 205,171 shares in the company, valued at $18,906,507.65. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameren Profile

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.